The Darkness Within
by Scribbler
Summary: Set after the end of Season 02, but disregarding the whole '25 years later' aspect. A year has passed since tragedy struck the Digidestined team. Now mysterious and terrible things are happening in Tokyo after dark.
1. Chapter One ~ Watching Spirits

Chapter One ~ "Watching Spirits"  
DISCLAIMER: I don't own Digimon, and sadly I doubt I ever will, as the rights never seem to come up on e-bay. I am so poor that I even had to put up the rent for the moths living in my pockets, so there is no point in suing me. Digimon belongs to Toei and Saban, but this fic is mine! (Insert evil laughter here!) If I find anyone plagiarizing this then I will be severely displeased and the thieves will have nobody to blame but themselves when I come after them with an oversized mallet!   
To clarify, this fic is set after the finale of Season 02, but disregards the whole '25 years later' thingy - I never really bought that, it seemed like too much of a cop out, sorry Toei. This is basically my version of what happened next, and is sprung straight from the twisted mind of yours truly! I have copied nobody, and if this fic resembles any other then I can assure you that this is completely by accident and I didn't mean to do it, honestly.  
Phew! Now that's over and done with, (Drum roll, please!) on with the show!   
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"The Darkness Within" By Scribbler  
  
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"Some people come into our lives and quickly go. Some stay for a while and leave footprints on our hearts. And we are never, ever the same." - Anonymous  
  
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It was beautiful night over sleeping Tokyo. The sky was lit up by a carpet of stars, like a canvas of burning eyes. Each an insignificant pinprick of light alone, but together they lent their ghostly phosphorescence to a cacophony of brilliance. Truly a breathtaking sight.   
  
The beauty of the moment was lost, however, on one individual. A lone figure stood in the shadows, gazing wistfully at the place he had once called home. Cars passed the alley he stood in, but none stopped or looked at the solitary person alone in the gloom. Every time one thundered past the figure shrank back into the concealment of darkness, maintaining his anonymity to all those who may have seen him.  
  
Not for the first time he wondered what he was doing there. This wasn't his home any more, and hadn't been for a very long time. Silently he stared at the outline of the apartment building against the night sky. It was nothing special, just another construction identical to all the others in Tokyo. He hadn't been into the city for so long, it was odd to think that there were hundreds of people contained within that one structure of metal and glass, and hundreds more in all the others dotted around the great Japanese capital. The figure regarded his former home pensively, wondering which of the rooms contained her...  
  
No! He couldn't think like that! That part of his life was over now, and he could never reclaim it, no matter how much he wanted to. He'd put it behind him, and intended to keep it there.  
  
So why was he here? To that, he had no answer.  
  
He knew it was dangerous, but some inexorable force had drawn him back to this place. The scene of so many happy memories, now tinged with sadness by one event. The cause of his misery.   
  
Another car blew past, oblivious to his presence. Still, the figure drew back into the shadows where he could see, yet not be seen. The car was a gaudy pink, filled with several teenagers on their way to some party or other frivolous engagement. God how he wanted that kind of life again. No more worries, no more cares, no more watching his back at every turn, waiting. Waiting for....  
  
What? The car had stopped. Could they have seen him? The slim figure recoiled, and stepped backwards down the alleyway. Laughing voices filtered from the open car window, converging unwanted in his ears.  
  
"Come on guys. What's the matter?"  
  
"Yeah, I wanna get to Sakuya's party some time this week, you know."  
  
Laughter, overruled by one voice, also tinctured with merriment despite its mock seriousness.  
  
"Keep it down, you guys. Kido's carsick again."  
  
"Again?" A female voice punctured the air, sounding disgusted. "But we've only been driving for fifteen minutes! I've never known anyone get sick as often as he does!"  
  
"Is he gonna barf?" Another voice, girly and mischievous. Her question was greeted with groans and remonstrations from her travelling companions.  
  
"Not in my car he's not! I just had the interior reupholstered!"  
  
"Excuse me, could you quit talking about me like I'm not even here!"  
  
More raucous laughter. The figure in the shadows listened to their banter despite himself. It was good to hear friendly voices again, even if they were not directed at him. He was more used to insults and screams, or intense, brooding silence, his constant companion down his chosen path in life. One of the voices seemed familiar, and he was sure that he had heard it before. Pushing the thought away, the figure hunched his collar further up his neck to keep out the biting chill permeating the night air.  
  
Eventually the garish car pulled away, taking its happy cargo with it. The shadowy figure took this opportunity to disappear into the shadows completely; safe in the knowledge that no one could see him. Silent as always, he made his way down the dark alley, scaling the wire mesh fence at the end and swinging easily over the top to land, cat-like, on the other side. He still surprised himself at how much he had changed over the past year. True, he'd always been strong, but in a different way to the strength he now possessed. His was now the vigour borne of survival in the harsh reality of life. Something those kids in the car could never know about. Although, if the voice was who he thought it was....  
  
No! There he went doing it again. He couldn't let himself remember. It was too dangerous, both for himself and for those around him.   
  
The alley ended abruptly, leading onto a street filled with streetlamps and brilliant shop windows. Reflexively, the figure shied away from the light, looking for another route away from this place. Finding none, he jerked his collar up even further so that it covered most of his face, then ventured warily out onto the sidewalk.  
  
Luckily, it was too late for many people to be out, and most of the shops had closed hours ago. The only people around were drunkards, police officers and the odd couple. The secretive stranger avoided most of them, but was given several curious glances as he breezed past oblivious drunks slumped in doorways, not sure whether they had seen or imagined him.  
  
"Hey, kid. Is that a hat or a haircut?" One slurred, guffawing at his own joke. The figure ignored him, keeping his eyes fixed straight ahead.  
  
"Aw, whassamatter?" A tipsy woman in a short skirt leaned on a lamppost for support nearby. "Widdle baby out past his bedtime? Shame."  
  
The drunken banter followed him as he turned off the main street and into another, under lit alleyway. Now he had seen what he'd come to see, he was leaving. It was the only way. He knew he couldn't stay, but still it tore his heart up inside his chest. He had so many memories of this place. So many recollections of the time before the terror....  
  
A signpost suddenly caught his eye. It pointed down another bright street off to his left, but it was the writing inscribed on it which interested him.   
  
Maybe, just one look. Nothing more. Just a look, then he'd be gone. This time not to return. Giving only partial resistance, the figure turned the way the sign pointed and strode down the street. Something at the back of his mind screamed at him to turn around. To go back the way he had come and forget all about .... but he couldn't. He needed to look. He didn't have to do anything, just look. Otherwise he felt he would crumble inside completely.  
  
Resolutely, but with his id still shrieking, the figure edged down the street, keeping close to the wall as he was accustomed to doing.  
  
Just one look. That was all he asked for. Just one...  
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Sora Takenouchi stepped out of the shower, rubbing her auburn hair with a towel. Opening the bathroom window, she watched as the steam filtered from the warm interior into the cold air outside like a silvery mist. She sighed, swiping a hand across the condensation clouding the mirror and looking at her reflection in the wet glass.   
  
In her opinion, she was not particularly pretty. Her hair kinked out, no matter how much she tried to make it stay in a bob, and her features were slightly sallow. She sighed. Why did she always feel inadequate when Mimi came to town? Rubbing her hair, she opened the door to the bathroom and exchanged the warmth for a cooling breeze. Her mother had the windows open again. Sora hoped she'd remembered to shut the curtains this time. She was not keen to repeat the last time she'd had an evening shower, only to leave the bathroom and find herself illuminated to the entire neighbourhood through an uncovered window.  
  
Thankfully, the curtains were indeed closed. Sora flopped down onto her bed, not caring about dampening the duvet with her wet hair. Mimi was so pretty. Her pink hair and killer fashion sense were cutting edge, and though Sora was her best friend, she always felt incommensurate when the comely girl visited. Not that she did so very often - living in America and all. But when she did grace Japanese shores she caused quite a stir among the natives.  
  
Mimi seemed to have an aura surrounding her, attracting people to her. It was very hard to dislike the sweet, sugary teenager, and she spent most of her visits trailing boys like honey entices bees. Her boyfriend was very understanding about it though. American born Michael seemed almost proud that Mimi received such attention. Perhaps because he knew that she would never betray him that way. She sometimes acted vain, but Mimi knew where her loyalties lay.  
  
Sora turned over, tracing the pattern on her duvet with her index finger. She too had a boyfriend, and knew that she could not hurt him like that either. Not that she ever got the chance to, mind. Rather, she worried about Matt and his legions of drooling fans that seemed to follow him wherever he went. Matt wouldn't betray her, but sometimes she wondered about the hordes of girls that worshipped the ground he walked on and took every word he said for gospel.   
  
A droplet of water trickled down her face, and Sora reached up to brush it off. Sighing again, she levered herself up and walked over to her dresser. She hadn't wanted the thing initially, but her mother had bought it anyway. Mrs. Takenouchi worried about her daughter being too much of a tomboy, and was constantly working to make her more feminine. The dresser in question was pink and white, edged in lacy patterns carved into a wooden frame, and painted gold on the handles. Sora hated it, but had to admit that all the drawers and secret compartments were useful. She opened one of them, retrieved her hairbrush, and perched on the end of her bed to brush her auburn tresses. Once again her unruly hair resolutely flicked outwards, despite Sora's best efforts to tame it into submission. Perhaps it was a permanent reminder of her younger days when she had rarely been seen without her helmet-like headgear. Her lucky blue hat she had called it. Sora glanced up on top of the wardrobe where the cerulean item now resided. She hadn't worn it in months. Not since...  
  
A knock at the door, accompanied by her mother's voice.  
  
"Sora, are you getting ready for bed?"  
  
Sora sighed and adopted the role of dutiful daughter once more.  
  
"Yeah, Mom. I'm just fixing my hair, then I'm going."  
  
"Well don't be too late. You know you have to work at the shop early tomorrow morning."  
  
Sora growled to herself. Stupid flower shop. It wasn't so bad until she had to work there. Yet another of her mother's 'make-Sora-more-feminine' trips. She used to play soccer on a Saturday morning, but now all her time seemed to be taken up watering petunias and stuffing cotton wool in the ends of rose stems. Not that she completely regretted giving up the soccer, but it was for different reasons than her mother thought.  
  
"Sora, honey? You still there?"  
  
"Yeah, Mom. I'm just going to bed now."  
  
"Oh, alright. Goodnight dear."  
  
"Goodnight."  
  
Sora slipped on her nightclothes - an oversized shirt that used to belong to her dad. It was old, and slightly frayed at the edges, but comfortable. Sora liked it because it reminded her of him. She hardly got to see him any more; he was so busy working at some university or other. He was becoming quite famous, and though she didn't begrudge him his well-earned glory, she did wish she could see him more often.  
  
Climbing into bed, Sora flipped the switch on the light sitting on her bedside table and settled down, making a warm nest of bedclothes around her. Her eyelids were heavy, but somehow sleep evaded her. The insomnia-stricken teenager stared fruitlessly at the ceiling for over an hour waiting for slumber to overtake her, but it didn't. Eventually she pulled back the covers, opened her bedroom door and tiptoed to the kitchen area of their small apartment. Perhaps a drink of milk would hurry things along a bit.  
  
Standing in the sparse kitchenette with her back to the curtained window, Sora's hazel eyes fell upon a framed photograph hung upon the far wall. It had been taken a year ago, give or take a few days, and despite its prominent location she hardly noticed it any more. Now though, moonlight filtered through a crack in the curtains and reflected off its splendent surface like a pool of liquid fire. Inexplicably drawn to it, Sora finished her milk and crossed the room to lift the picture gently down from its station. Gently blowing the dust off it, she stared at the smiling faces captured for eternity on glass-encased celluloid.   
  
The picture in question had been taken on one of her last visits to the Digital World. After some persuasion, she had managed to convince all her friends and their Digimon partners to pose long enough for her to take a photograph. She was quite proud with the finished product - it having been the first time she ever used a timed digital camera. At least she hadn't blinked. She, like many of the humans in the picture, was wearing her green school uniform. Some of the younger kids wore their own clothes, and needless to say none of the Digimon were clothed in the putrid garments of Odaiba High School, but all the older teenagers wore the same thing, with a few minor personalisations here and there.   
  
In Sora's arms was a small pink bird-like creature with claw tipped wings. She and Sora were looking at each other happily with a gaze that couldn't be mistaken for anything less than true friendship and understanding.  
  
"Biyomon." Sora breathed, enjoying the sound of her Digimon's name on her tongue. She hadn't said it in such a long time, despite all her promises to revisit the Digital World at every opportunity she got. Somehow she and the world of digital monsters had drifted apart, as had been the case with all the other kids.   
  
Matt stood to the left of her, his Digimon partner, Gabumon, at his feet. The wolf-like creature stared up at the teenage boy, adoration shining in his crimson eyes. Next to him were Mimi and Palmon, Palmon's vines twisted up in the girl's star spangled hair. For once in her life, Mimi didn't seem to care about looking a mess, and simply smiled happily at the camera, giving a peace sign with one hand. A grinning blond boy wearing a fishing hat and what appeared to be a large flying hamster on his head knelt in front of the stylish teenager. T.K., Matt's little brother by three years, and Patamon, his Digimon partner. And next to him, with a grin just as wide, sat a girl about the same age wearing pink fingerless gloves and a whistle around her neck. In her lap was curled a small white cat with a long purple and white striped tail, decked with a curious ring at the end. One of the feline Digimon's blue eyes was fixed warily on the camera, as if daring it to come over and stop the grinning girl from stroking her. Kari and Gatomon, both wise beyond their years, but loveable all the same. Sora laughed inwardly at the expression on Gatomon's face, amused, but not wanting to wake her mother.  
  
Next to Kari, laptop open as always, sat Izzy. Red hair unbrushed as usual, it had been a considerable task to pry the computer genius' gaze away from his screen long enough for the photograph to be taken. Even now it was obvious through his intelligent smile that he would much rather be working on solving another technological super-problem then posing for a picture. By his side crouched a rather intimidating looking insectoid Digimon, red and black armour gleaming in the digital sunlight like polished glass. Despite his appearance, Tentomon was actually a very gentle and discerning creature, and wanted nothing more than to drag Izzy back into reality to have some fun. Sora's camera had even caught him in the act, tugging desperately on the boy's arm, which stubbornly refused to be moved from its place on the laptop keyboard.  
  
Towering above the technophile and his Digimon was a lanky boy, obviously older than the rest of the children. He wore an outfit similar to the Odaiba High students, except that it was blue. In one hand was clasped a designer suitcase, bulging with papers and textbooks. In the other sat a small fuzzy Digimon, which looked like a cross between a seal and someone badly in need of a manicure. Gomamon's bright red hair clashed badly with Joe Kido's blazer - a 'fashion no-no' as Mimi would have put it - but neither seemed to care all that much. All Joe and Gomamon had ever needed was each other's company. Sora had been surprised most of all when Joe broke off contact with the Digital World. Despite his constant complaining about his allergies and monsters trying to eat him every five minutes, Joe had genuinely seemed to like that place.   
  
Beside Joe stood a young girl with pink hair and a strange helmet upon her head. She wore glasses, much the same as he did, and there was an informed air of superiority about her. Another birdlike Digimon stood in front of her long, oddly clothed legs. However, unlike Biyomon, this Digimon looked quite ferocious and maybe even a little snobbish. Hawkmon was none of these things though, and his partner, Yolei, though sometimes selfish, was as noble a friend as anyone could ask for. Next to her stood a short, awkward looking boy with a terrible haircut and a scowl upon his face. Cody had been the most reluctant by far to pose for a photograph, and it was only through the persuasive tactics of his Digimon, Armadillomon, that had caused him to be in the picture at all.   
  
Standing slightly aside from them was a thin boy of about T.K.'s age wearing a dull grey suit. He appeared to be trying to hide behind his long bluish hair - unsuccessfully as his partner Digimon, balanced precariously on the boy's shoulder, pulled it aside to reveal a wide eyed innocent face tinged red on his cheeks with shyness. Wormmon and Ken 'formerly-known-as-the-Digimon-Emperor' Ichijoji. Friends till the end, or so it had seemed at the time. Leaning with bravado on the reserved antecedent megalomaniac was a boy with shot spiky hair and a slightly fiendish smile plastered across his face. Davis Motomiya was once again doing what he did best - hamming it up. Sora smiled as she remembered what had happened next. Already top heavy with Wormmon on his shoulder, Ken hadn't been able to support Davis as well, and the broadly smiling boy had tumbled into an ungainly heap on top of his own Digimon, Veemon. Needless to say, the small blue dragon-like monster had been less than pleased at being used as a soft landing for his clumsy partner, and had let him know in not so many words. Sora had been surprised that Veemon knew language like that, but she put it down to the vast amounts of television he and Davis watched. Or had watched, as the case may be.  
  
This group of children had once been the most powerful group of people in the world. They were the Digidestined; youngsters with the ability to share their energy with their Digimon and help them 'digievolve' to a higher level of being. Originally only numbering seven, their ranks had increased over time, welcoming first Kari, then Davis, Yolei, Cody and finally Ken into the folds of friendship and adversity. Just over a year ago, when fighting against an evil Digimon by the name of MaloMyotismon, they had learning of the existence of many other Digidestined children throughout the planet. Hence Mimi met her now-boyfriend Michael, a member of the American Digidestined team. Sora's mouth twitched into a smile at the corners as she recalled the adventures they'd had that year. All the new friends they'd made. All the barriers they'd broken down. For a while it had seemed like the Real World and the Digital World had become one place where both humans and Digimon could grow and play together happily, free from disturbances. Then, gradually over time, people seemed to forget about the magical realm of the Digimon, and the portals became fewer and fewer, the visits less and less frequent, until eventually there was nothing left. No way to access the Digital World, and nobody who really seemed to care to try either. It surprised Sora in a way. There was a time when you couldn't have pried her away from Biyomon with a crowbar, but now she hardly gave her old friend a passing thought.  
  
A plane passed by overhead, causing a low rumbling to permeate the air, and shafts of white light to streak through the curtains. One ray of brightness bounced off the glass of the photograph, and Sora winced as she was momentarily blinded by it. Closing her eyes, she waited for the spots of dancing colour to dissipate before looking again at the precious picture in her hand.   
  
Standing next to her, at the edge of the tableau, was a slim boy wearing an Odaiba uniform. His face had adopted its customary grin, mischievous and slightly rebellious, sparks of mirth clearly visible in his hazel eyes. A huge mop of brown hair capped his head, held out of the way by a blue headband. At one time he had worn the goggles that now adorned Davis' cranium, but the headband did the job just as well. His entire mien spoke of contentment, as if all he needed in the world was right there alongside him. This expression was matched by a tiny orange dinosaur peeking out from behind the teenager's legs, green eyes sparkling with happiness, mouth slightly open with delight. At first glance, Agumon looked like a reject from Jurassic Park, but the brave little Digimon was a true and loyal companion, with a capacity for fun that by far outstripped any of their other digital companions.   
  
A lump caught in Sora's throat as she gazed at the youth standing next to her. Now she remembered why she didn't look at this picture anymore. The boy looked so happy that it made her want to cry. Who could have known what was going to happen? Who could have foreseen the terrible events that awaited them just around the corner? She certainly hadn't.  
  
She still remembered the day she had heard the news. She'd been late getting up because her alarm clock was broken, and had stumbled out of bed mid-morning to find her mother sitting at the dining table, red-eyed and tearful. She hadn't bothered to open the shop because she was too upset. This fact alone had alerted Sora to the seriousness of the situation - her mother loved that flower shop and never closed it. Even when she was sick she could still be found among her beloved plants, carrying on as if nothing was wrong. To have made Mrs. Takenouchi leave it closed had to have been a momentous event. Open-mouthed, Sora had listened as her mother related the events of the previous evening. Kari had been to a friend's sleepover, but got sick when staying over. Her friend's mother had taken her back home again; having been assured that the young girl possessed her own key and could let herself into her apartment without bothering her parents. The then twelve-year-old found them on the carpet along with the family cat. Neighbours testified her scream had been loud enough to wake the dead - a poor choice of words given the circumstances.  
  
The police put it down as a common burglary gone horribly wrong. Mr. and Mrs. Kamiya had just been in the wrong place at the wrong time, and suffered the awful consequences. There was nothing anyone could have done for them. Their bodies were horrifically mutilated, testifying they would have died even if somebody had found them earlier. A trail of blood - later proved to belong to their son - led out of the apartment and away from the building. Typical Tai, always jumping into a situation feet first without contemplating the outcome his actions would cause. The Police Enquiry supposed that the Kamiya's son had walked in on the burglar and chased after him when he tried to flee. Revenge can do funny things to a person's mind, Mrs. Takenouchi had said, a sane person could become reckless and foolhardy when faced with terrible tragedy. The boy was probably injured in a scuffle with the crook, she rationalised, thus accounting for the stains of his blood found around the place.  
  
The corpse was found in an alley a little way from the apartment building. Maimed far beyond recognition, it was hard to tell it had been a person at all. Decapitation, the Enquiry said. Sora hadn't known what it meant, and looked the word up in a dictionary her father had given her on her eighth birthday. Even now she still shuddered at the thought of reading that definition. The idea of her oldest friend dying alone and in such a barbaric way was enough to reduce Sora to her bed for a full three days before she was ready to face the world again. Kari still needed counselling sessions even now, as probably did the person who had found the body in the alley, and it had been over a year since it happened. Deep wounds were hard to heal.   
  
With the death of their leader - death, it was such a final word - the Digidestined had begun to drift apart. It was as if the glue binding them together had dissolved, leaving them as leaves on an autumn breeze, to be blown about by the winds of time and life. Kari became withdrawn and insular, blaming herself for not getting home sooner in order to save her family. Not long after, she moved away to live with her grandmother in the country, leaving their old apartment empty and bare - much like her soul had become. Sora hadn't heard from the younger girl in months. But perhaps this was for the best, so as not to stir up the sea of memories between them. Without Kari around, the new Digidestined had unofficially disbanded and gradually lost contact with the senior members of the team. In turn, the older children had grown away from each other, until only a few personal relationships remained. Having no D3s at their disposal, the teenagers ceased visiting the Digital World altogether, until it seemed nobody went there anymore, not even those in possession of the new Digivices. It was almost as if it had never existed at all.  
  
A solitary tear splashed onto the glass of the photograph in Sora's hand, slightly distorting the image of Izzy's head through its curved surface. She wiped her eyes clumsily with the sleeve of her nightshirt, anxious to erase the sign of her own weakness, despite the fact that nobody was there to see it.   
  
Why had she looked at the picture? It held so many unhappy memories for her. She and Tai had shared a special bond, their friendship having been the oldest and strongest among the Digidestined - both old and new. Even the intense comradeship between Tai and Matt, borne of their shared struggles in the Digital World, had paled in comparison to the ties she'd held with him. Why else would he encourage her relationship with Matt, despite the fact it meant she spent less time with him. Or how he'd listened patiently to her whining when her mother made her give up soccer and start tennis lessons instead. He'd always been there for her, a shoulder to cry on when she needed it most, never failing to lift her spirits when she was at her lowest ebb. God, how she missed him. His laugh, his love of practical jokes, his ability to retrieve himself unscathed from any scrape he happened to have gotten himself into.  
  
Except for one...  
  
Tears prickled the back of Sora's eyeballs like tiny needles, and she hastily blinked them away. If she wasn't careful she would wake her mother, and then there would be no end of trouble. Mrs. Takenouchi had known Tai so long he had become like the son she'd never had. She was quite distraught at the news of his and his family's untimely demise. Mr. And Mrs. Kamiya were good friends of hers, and she had reacted almost as badly as her daughter to the tragic events. It wouldn't do to upset her again now. Not when their lives had resumed some sense of normality once more.   
  
Carefully, Sora replaced the framed photograph on the wall, but not before wiping the dust away with the edge of her shirt. Noiselessly, she began to tiptoe back to the security of her bedroom. The piled carpet felt soft on the soles of her feet, fibres brushing the sensitive skin between her toes and making her shiver. A faint scratching outside the window caused her to pause for a second, but she dismissed it as a cat. It never occurred to her how a feline could get up to the fourth floor and out into their window flowerbox without her seeing, but the milk appeared to be having its desired effect, and her eyelids had suddenly become incredibly heavy. Fuzzily, the tired teenager went back to bed, pulling the covers up under her chin and snuggling down into their reflected warmth once more. She didn't even notice the strange noise outside on the balcony a few minutes later. Sora was too far-gone into the land of slumber to perceive much at that moment in time, but a soft padding and swish of rustling clothes beyond the double glass doors attested a presence there. A watching spirit, as it were, lost to reality but attached to something else. An implacable yearning that simultaneously drew it to and drove it away from that place. Watching, but never belonging. Not any more....  
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AUTHOR'S NOTES: So... what did you think? This is my first attempt at fanfiction; so don't be too harsh, please. As you may probably have already guessed, this is going 2 B quite a long fic, but hopefully it will be worth sticking with it 2 the end. I'm trying to write it so that you'll never guess the ending whilst U R reading it, and so far things seem 2 B going according 2 plan. I already have another couple of chapters in the pipeline, but I won't put them up unless people want me too. (Please give me some R&R people! I reeeeally want to put these chapters up, but I won't if U think this one is horrendous. Not that I'm trying to win the sympathy vote, but if U read my Bio then you'll see just what I've been thru 2 get this far with my fic.) Just to dispel NE doubts, "Watching Spirits" is basically pretty much a scene setter; there is more action and intrigue later on, so.... WATCH THIS SPACE!!  
  
Scribbler ; . D 


	2. Chapter Two ~ False Smiles

DISCLAIMER: Okey Dokey, here we go. Thanks to all those who reviewed Chapter One, (Zelda, DC Baller and Aardwulf - I love U guys) I really appreciate it. Because of you I've decided to post Chapter Two, as the feedback for "Watching Spirits" was encouraging. Once again I have to concede that no matter how much I would like them to, Digimon and all its characters are the property of Toei and Saban, not me. (BOO HOO!) I've tried all things possible to get them to change their minds - bargaining, bribery, threats, you name it and I've done it - but they won't budge. (Meanies!)  
Chapter Two is pretty much in the same vein as Chapter One, so don't get discouraged, it will get better later on, I promise! This episode is quite long, and to fully understand what happens here you'll have to read the previous instalment, as all essential details are contained therein.  
For all would-be plagiarizers out there, just to let you know that I've graduated from mallets and am now onto chainsaws, so STEAL THIS FIC AT YOUR PERIL!! If I catch even one iota of my work under someone else's name then I shall personally find you and make you eat your computer screen whole! I have not copied anyone to create this, and I expect the same kind of courtesy from other people.  
Ahem, (I'm a nice person really. No, honest!)   
I shall now finish with the blurb - you'll all be pleased to hear - and go onto the fic. Thanx muchly, but I must warn you * puts on hooded robe and picks up plastic comedy scythe * Abandon hope, all ye who enter here. You have been warned!  
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"The Darkness Within" By Scribbler  
Chapter Two ~ "False Smiles"  
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"A smile is a light in the window of the soul indicating that the heart is at home." -- Source Unknown  
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A brown haired boy sat thoughtfully at the breakfast table, staring pensively into his bowl of cereal. Absently, he moved steeped cornflakes around with his spoon, poking several into a small, saturated mountain, but never once raising the utensil to his mouth. His mother watched him worriedly from the kitchen.  
  
"Aren't you hungry?" She asked at length.  
  
"No, Mom." He replied in a husky voice, seemingly too old to emanate from his immature body. His mother gazed concernedly at her son.  
  
"You're not sick are you?"  
  
"No, Mom. I'm not sick. Just not hungry."   
  
An old, wizened man sitting opposite him at the table peeked curiously around his upright newspaper at these words.  
  
"Not hungry? Then you must be sick. It takes a lot to make you lose your appetite, my boy." He chuckled good naturedly, but a sad sigh from the boy silenced his good humour. The aged man looked inquiringly at him, arching one snow-white eyebrow in his direction. "What's wrong, Cody?"  
  
"I don't know, Grandpa. I'm just not myself today, I guess." Cody gazed into his bowl as if soggy cereal was the most riveting sight in the world. It was true; he didn't know what was the matter with him. He wasn't sick, in fact he had never been healthier, but something was bothering him and he couldn't tell what it was. Abstractedly, his green eyes travelled the length of the apartment he shared with his mother and grandfather in the hope that something would come to him on how to alleviate the feeling of uneasiness gnawing at his stomach.  
  
His sight alighted on the newspaper clutched open in his grandfather's wrinkly hands. It was propped open on the table, despite his mother's orders for it to be kept on his lap. Many was the morning when the old man had hidden from his daughter-in-law's hen-pecking behind the sheets of local reports, hunched over his prunes until she either ceased nagging or he was finished and able to make a quick getaway. Cody often read the cover story in this way; reading snatches at a time until the escaping pensioner removed it from his sight. Now he scanned the bold, black lettering of the headline in an effort to sidetrack his overactive mind.  
  
"BODY FOUND IN ODAIBA"  
  
A body? Cody read on with feigned interest.   
  
"At 3am this morning, a dead body was found in the Odaiba area of Tokyo. Several youths returning from a night out discovered it in an alley and reported their find to the local police, who arrived on the scene within minutes. The victim is said to have been male, about 168 pounds with a wide build. Nobody answering this description has yet been reported missing, but authorities are hopeful that somebody will come forward with information concerning his identity very soon. The body contained no documentation of identification, and is said to have been too badly mutilated to be recognisable through dental or fingerprint records. Police are now searching for any witnesses or people with vital information that may help them with this case."  
  
The newspaper was suddenly whipped from sight and replaced with a pair of worried eyes set in parchment-like skin.  
  
"Cody?" His Grandfather peered oddly at him. "Did you here what your mother just said to you?"  
  
Cody's head jerked up, startled. "What? Sorry Grandpa, I was reading the newspaper." He glanced up at the clock hung on the lemon-coloured wallpaper of the kitchen. It was an analogue model, and for some reason this fact had always bothered Cody. Now though, he hardly noticed, as he perceived what time it was. Darting an apologetic look at both adults hovering over him, the small boy slipped from his stool and slung a large backpack over his shoulder. "I'd better get going to school or I'll be late. Bye Mom. Bye Grandpa." He dutifully pecked his mother on the cheek, before walking soberly towards the door and out onto the walkway of their apartment building.  
  
His mother and grandfather watched him go with concern. Cody had always been mature for his age. So much so that it had resulted in him making very few friends growing up. His mother worried constantly at his being lonely and too insular, and had even enrolled him in Kendo lessons in an effort to encourage his mixing with other children his own age. Her plan had misfired, however, as Cody did indeed take an interest in Kendo, but insisted on practising alone with her Father-in-law and no one else. He'd been quite adamant about it, and she'd been reluctant to destroy such a promising interest because of her own petty designs.  
  
The old man in question was also troubled about his grandson. Usually he didn't take much interest in Cody's life beyond the Kendo practises they shared, but even he couldn't keep his apathetic exterior in the face of what was happening to the boy. Though few, Cody had always had a few acquaintances, and these seemed to have developed into friends not so long ago. But quite suddenly, about a year ago, they all disappeared, and Cody was left more alone than ever. Even that Yolei girl no longer called for him in the mornings, and she lived so close by too. Cody hadn't bothered to seek out his old comrades, nor attempt to make new ones, and declined every offer of play-dates and lessons in all things under the sun offered by his mother. Gradually he became a morose and isolated little boy, though he didn't try to change his situation. His mother fretted about him, but could do nothing about how she felt. She'd tried talking with him, but faltered when faced with his unseasonable maturity. It was like he'd experienced some terrible loss they couldn't even begin to contemplate, and changed according to how his world had changed around him. Even his persistent mother had to admit that she couldn't change a person's world simply because it was doing something she didn't agree with, and had resigned herself to watching her son develop before her eyes into someone she hardly even recognised anymore.  
  
Eyes boring almost tangibly into his back, Cody left his apartment in a hurry, anxious to escape the prying stares and whispered comments that had become foundations of the household. They couldn't help being worried about him, he knew, but deep down he resented their efforts to help, as he knew that the thing he desired most was the one thing his family couldn't provide.  
  
All his life, those he cared most about had been torn away from Cody. When he was younger he'd blamed himself, as if somehow his connection to these people was what had caused them to be taken from him. In his subconscious he supposed he still believed this, and so had cut himself off from the world in order to save it from his Midas touch. He neither wanted nor needed friends, and had even distanced himself from the very people he shared a home with. When he'd had friends a year ago - was it really a whole year already? - he thought he'd been happy, but once again the demons surrounding him had struck, disuniting the circle that had once been so strong. Except this time he wasn't the only one affected. Cody hated the way his own bad luck had hurt his companions, and vowed never to become so close to anyone ever again, in the hope that if he did, such terrible things would never again blemish the lives of those he cared about. The sight of Kari's drawn and grief-stricken face still haunted his dreams, as did the disbelief and loss of innocence etched into Davis'. He'd never seen the hyperactive boy look so sad, and curiously it was this memory that affected him more than all the others put together.  
  
Tai. Why did you have to die?   
  
Because of me. It's always because of me. First Dad, then Oikawa, now Tai. Everyone close to me always gets hurt.   
  
Cody halted at the bus stop, lost in his own thoughts. Silently he craned his neck back and stared contemplatively at the snowy clouds scudding through azure sky above him.   
  
I can't believe it's been a whole you've been gone Tai. Things sure have changed without you around. I don't think anyone really realised how important you were to us. Not until you weren't there at least. Davis kind of lost interest in soccer without you on the team. You were his idol, you know that? You probably did, the amount of time he spent copying you, trying to be you. He's never taken off those goggles you gave him. Never. I never figured Davis as the sentimental type, but I guess I was wrong about him.   
  
Cody sighed, and abruptly jumped back, snapped from his thoughts by the school bus pulling up in front of him. Its putrid yellow hide glinted in the bright Monday morning sun, and several grimacing faces were visible through the tinted glass windows. With a hiss the folding door slid open to reveal a harassed and weather-beaten driver. Tiredly she beckoned to the puny boy on the pavement with one pudgy finger.  
  
"Come on kid, I ain't got all day."  
  
Cody stepped onto the peeling vehicle, hoisting himself slowly aboard by the handrail. The driver watched him resentfully through narrowed eyes. Damn kids; act like they've got all the time in the world. Don't bother hurrying on my account!  
  
Making his way quiescently to the unoccupied back seat, Cody sat down and leaned heavily on the window. As usual, nobody bothered to talk to the anti-social midget. They had all learned a long time ago that he was not to be bothered with unless you enjoyed stony silence and strange penetrating looks from his curious green eyes. As the creaking vehicular behemoth pulled away, Cody stared at the flaking yellow paintwork. It was almost the same colour as...  
  
One name escaped unbidden from his lips. That of the one he missed most in the world but had no way of reaching any more. His lost companion.  
  
"Armadillomon."  
___________________  
  
"Oh, isn't this just darling?"  
  
Sora sat back and contemplated the T-Shirt her mother held out in front of her. In her opinion it looked no different to all the others she had seen so far, but she held her tongue at the happy look on the older woman's face. The garment was pink, with rose coloured sequins sewn on in random haphazard places and "Go For It, Girl!" emblazoned in violet lettering across the chest. The overdose of pastels made Sora feel sick.  
  
"It's nice, Mom." She answered untruthfully. Mrs' Takenouchi's slightly oriental eyes shone at her daughter's words.  
  
"You think so? Try it on, Sora, let's see what it looks like on you." She thrust the offending item into Sora's hands. The teenage girl inwardly grimaced as pink fabric touched her fingers. She hated pink! Fortunately, her mother was saved from a barbed comment by a high-pitched voice nearby.  
  
"Oh no, Mrs. Takenouchi. That's not Sora's style at all. This is much more her."  
  
A pink haired girl of about Sora's age stood next to a bulging clothes rack in the corner of the tiny shop. She was smiling, causing her star spangled tresses to shimmer in the sunlight filtering through the open doorway. Next to her, the assortment of attire almost seemed to glow they were so brightly coloured. It was as if someone had gone crazy in a paint factory, and Sora was now looking at the fruits of their labours. The merry girl leaned down, extracted something from the crowd of Technicolor material and held it up proudly to her onlookers.  
  
Curiously, she seemed to have picked the only non-repulsive item there. It was khaki green with a cheerful yellow happy face on the shoulder of each short sleeve. Sora's mother looked dubiously at it.  
  
"I don't know. It's very dark - "  
  
"It's fine, Mom." Sora protested hurriedly, eager to rid herself of her mother's choice, even if it meant having to wear something else from this place. Clothes shopping had never really interested Sora. She was more comfortable in baggy things that were old and familiar than brand new vestments, fresh from the shop floor. Usually her mother took note of this, but it wasn't every day that Mimi came to visit, she reasoned, so she'd made an exception this Saturday, and taken her daughter and her friend to the centre of Tokyo for a spending spree. Unfortunately for Sora, this was yet another thinly veiled attempt to make her more feminine. Mrs. Takenouchi seemed to think that if she filled Sora's wardrobe with every pink item of clothing in the world she would instantly become more effeminate and less tomboyish. More like Mimi and less like....  
  
The chestnut haired girl expedited forward, handing her mother the loathsome T-Shirt as she passed and heading for the changing room before she could protest. Mimi followed, the seemingly irremovable smile still grafted to her face.  
  
In the end the trio left with three shirts for Sora and two for Mimi. Mrs. Takenouchi insisted on her daughter wearing one of them home, so Sora chose the Khaki effort and paraded it self-consciously through the streets of the bustling metropolis.  
  
Halfway to yet another clothes store Sora's mother's handbag suddenly struck up a mysterious shrill wailing. Reaching into the depths of her cavernous carryall, the oriental woman pulled out a small cell phone and hurriedly spoke into it. After a few curt words she replaced it and sighed deeply.  
  
"I'm afraid I'll have to cut our little trip short, girls." She apologised. Inwardly, Sora leaped for joy, but outwardly her cool exterior remained fixed.  
  
"Why Mom?"  
  
"It seems there's been some sort of emergency at the Flower Shop, and they simply can't deal with it without me there. I'm sorry."  
  
"Oh." Was all Sora could think to say. "Are we going to stay here, or do you want us to come back with you?"  
  
"Well, I could use a hand..." Mrs. Takenouchi trailed off, but one look at Mimi's face at the thought of returning from a shopping excursion so early in the day was enough to smite any ideas of taking them with her. "No, you girls stay. Your day shouldn't be ruined because of my problems." She smiled. "I'll see you back home at eight, Sora. Mimi, you're welcome to stay over if you like."  
  
"Could I?" Mimi's hazel eye's gleamed at the offer. "Cool, a sleepover. I'm sure my parents won't mind if I stay with you instead of in my hotel room for one night. Unless you don't want me too, Sora?"  
  
"No, that'd be great." Sora agreed. "Thanks, Mom."   
  
Her mother just shrugged, bade the two teenagers farewell, and started on the trip back to her beloved flower shop. Truth be told, they probably could have gotten through their 'emergency' without her, but perhaps a little time alone with her friend would mellow Sora out a bit. Mimi was such a nice girly girl, and Sora had been acting strangely lately, like something was bothering her. Maybe she would talk about it with her friend and get it off her chest. It didn't do to bottle things up inside. The dark haired woman shielded her almond shaped eyes against the glaring sun as she walked. She had a fair idea what it was that was troubling her daughter, having awoken several days ago to find a certain picture hanging crookedly on the wall of their apartment, a strange smear of what could only be a dried tearstain running down the glass. In three days it would be a year to the day since the Kamiyas were murdered. She wasn't oblivious to the friendship Sora had shared with their son, so it was obvious she was going to be feeling a little depressed around this time. Thank goodness Mimi's parents had chosen now to pay a visit. A friend was exactly what Sora needed at the moment, and since they had both known Tai they could talk about him freely to each other.  
  
Sora and Mimi watched her go. As soon as the older woman was out of sight Sora threw up her hands, much to the consternation of people passing by.  
  
"Thank goodness, she's gone!"  
  
Mimi giggled. "You're cruel."  
  
Sora stared incredulously at her friend. "You have no idea! She tries to take me shopping every opportunity she gets. My wardrobe's bursting, and I don't even like pink!"  
  
"And what's so wrong with that?" Mimi asked, a mischievous edge to her musical voice. Sora smile wryly at her.  
  
"Oh yeah, I forgot, that's your idea of heaven, isn't it?"  
  
Mimi's grin only got wider. "Come on, let's get something to eat. I'm starving." She started purposefully down the street, Sora trailing behind carrying the shopping bags.   
  
From the way Mimi acted and found her way through the often-confusing sprawl of busy Tokyo it was hard to believe she'd ever left. Eventually the pair ended up at their old favourite burger bar. As they entered, Sora glanced musingly up at the sign above the archway over the door. This had been the first place they went when they chased Myotismon out of the Digital World and into their own five years ago. There had been more of them then. All the original Digidestined plus their Digimon, Joe complaining as par usual about their terminal lack of money for such frivolities as burgers. No, wait, not all the Digidestined had been there that time. They hadn't known about Kari then; in fact, they'd come to the real world in order to search for her. What a shock Tai got when the eighth Digidestined turned out to be his own little sister - after all that searching too, she was right under our noses the whole time.  
  
Tai...  
  
"Sora?" Mimi shaking her shoulder jolted Sora abruptly from her thoughts. The magenta tressed teenager peered curiously into her face. "You coming?"  
  
"Wha-" Sora stumbled on her words for a moment before composing herself enough to answer. "Yeah, sure. Let's go in." She strode into the greasy building, Mimi still gazing curiously after her.  
  
It was such a lovely, sunny day, that they decided to ditch the stuffy interior of the restaurant and eat their lunch in the park. After settling themselves onto a park bench, Mimi confronted her friend, turning to her with a 'don't-give-me-any-lies-because-I'll-know-they're-not-true' expression that only she could master etched upon her pretty face.  
  
"Alright, spill. What's the matter? And don't say nothing because I can tell something's bothering you, Sora. You've been acting really weird ever since I arrived in Tokyo."  
  
Sora was taken aback by Mimi's blunt attitude, and for a moment didn't know how to answer such a question.   
  
"What do you mean?" She asked impotently, stalling for time as she searched for something else to say. Mimi only watched her harder, concern evident in her sparkling hazel eyes.  
  
"You know exactly what I mean, Sora. Stop stalling for time and tell me what's the matter." Her voice was not unkind, but threads of worry were plainly patent in her tone.   
  
Sora's eyes slid away from her friend's face. How could she explain to Mimi what she didn't really understand herself? Subconsciously she stared across the park, through the trees to the line of stores on the other side. In the centre of these was a tiny shop with 'Sports 4 All' engraved in the wall above it and various soccer accessories in the window display. Mimi followed her gaze, eyebrows shooting up into an expression of pained comprehension. How could she have been so blind? She knew about that store, and how Tai and Sora used to spend hours in there, poring over the latest soccer equipment. Back when Sora still played soccer. Back when Tai was still alive. The pink haired teenager turned back to her companion.  
  
"You really miss him, don't you?" Sora looked startled for a moment, then nodded. Mimi shifted her seat and sat back on the bench. "I do too."  
  
"It's just...I just..." Sora began, burger still clasped uneaten in her hand, all thoughts of food driven from her jumbled mind. She glanced up into Mimi's quizzical eyes. "I just feel like we could have done something. Something to help, maybe even...." She trailed off; unshed tears stinging the backs of her eyes. Mimi made no attempt to butt in, and gulping, Sora continued apace, scared that if she stopped then her feelings would be left to fester inside her forever. "I mean, we're the Digidestined. We have all this power inside us, and what good did it do? We've saved this entire planet and the Digital World countless times, but we couldn't save one person from.... from...." She stopped, too choked with emotion to carry on. Sora bent forward over her rapidly cooling food, and Mimi leaned across to rub her back comfortingly. The perturbed girl forced back stinging tears threatening to leak from her eyes. Tears were a sign of weakness, and Sora wasn't weak. All her life she'd made it her mission to show that she wasn't weak. Gradually the sensation of being burned from within subsided, and she sat up, eyes a little puffy, but otherwise dry. "Thanks, Mimi."  
  
"Don't mention it." Mimi threw the chestnut haired girl beside her a curious look. "There was nothing you could have done you know. There was nothing any of us could have done."  
  
"I guess," Sora conceded. "But I just don't want to write off Tai's death as 'one-of-those-things', like you hear on the news. He was real, not some person whose picture you see on a TV screen after they're gone. Half the people in the world don't know what he did for them. How much he sacrificed. His death can't mean so little, can it Mimi?" She gazed questioningly at her comrade through sad hazel eyes. "Can it?"  
  
"No, Sora." Mimi replied, giving her the answer she was looking for. "It doesn't."  
  
They sat in silence for a moment. Neither looked at nor spoke to the other, each lost in their own train of thoughts and memories. Mimi glanced at her friend, who simply stared unseeingly at the mass of congealing food in her hands. The pink haired teenager felt slightly guilty. She'd been in Tokyo nearly a week and never even noticed how depressed and pensive Sora was - and she was supposed to be her friend! She knew that Sora had cared deeply for Tai, probably more than she would ever realize. As a child Mimi's spoilt and arrogant attitude hadn't helped her win any friends, so she couldn't comprehend what it was like to know someone for so long and then suddenly not have them around any more. True, she had friends now - good friends, the kind many would kill to have - but somehow she felt she was missing the unspoken understanding that comes from growing up side by side with somebody. The kind of once in a lifetime bond that Sora and Tai had shared. No wonder Sora was feeling confused without him around. Especially so close to the time he died.  
  
Sora, oblivious to her companion's contemplations, simply became lost in the maelstroms that were her own. She wasn't used to opening up to anyone like this, at least not any more. She'd always told Tai about her troubles, but since he died she'd become secretive, not allowing anyone to pry into her carefully guarded feelings lest they hurt her again. Her heart couldn't withstand another break.  
  
A cyclist flew past, closely followed by another. They were laughing, enjoying the drunken happiness that seemed to fill the warm day. Sora didn't even notice as a piece of paper, swept up in their draught, caught against her leg. Her hazel eyes continued to stare vacantly at the coagulating mess slowly dripping through her fingers.  
  
Suddenly, a pair of arms slid around her waist from behind, bringing her sharply back to reality. Someone's breath blew softly on her cheek, and a familiar husky voice whispered gently into her ear.  
  
"Hey there, beautiful."  
  
"Hey, Matt." Sora twisted round to look into a pair of piercing blue eyes. Matt Ishsida smiled, causing the skin around his eyes to wrinkle slightly. "Me and Mimi were just talking. Wanna join us?" Sora added non-commitedly. The blonde haired boy looked up, as if noticing Mimi for this first time. He nodded at her in greeting, not releasing his embrace from around Sora's waist.  
  
"Hey, Mimi. Long time no see. How've you been?"  
  
"Oh, fine." Mimi replied, false cheerfulness filling her tinkling voice. "Sit down, Matt. You're not in the army, you know."  
  
Matt laughed and sat down on the end of the bench next to Sora, glancing dubiously at her now cold burger.  
  
"You gonna eat that, or stare at it all day?"  
  
"Wha-" Sora seemed confused for a moment, and then realised what he was referring to. She gave a half-smile, carefully wrapped the unappetising item back in its packaging and replaced it in the paper bag it had come in. She sighed sadly. Matt shot a questioning look over her chestnut head at Mimi. The star spangled girl mouthed 'Tai' at him, then discreetly pointed at her friend. Matt's mouth formed a little 'O' of understanding, and he transferred his attention back to the morose girl sitting next to him.  
  
"Are you OK, Sora?"  
  
"Yeah, I'm fine, Matt."  
  
Silence for a moment, as both Matt and Mimi quested through their minds to find something to talk about which wouldn't upset their friend. It wasn't that they didn't care about Tai, they both missed him just as much as Sora did, it was just that the sight of her so disconsolate unsettled them, and they felt the need to remove any unhappiness from her heart.  
  
Sora herself enjoyed the quiescence surrounding them. It gave her time to think. Upon Matt's arrival she had begun to feel that warm, glowy feeling that always accompanied his presence spreading through her. It was this strange and pleasant sensation that had initially attracted her to Matt in the first place. His icy blue eyes had a penetrating quality about them, as if just by looking at you he could see right down into your soul and read all your deepest, darkest secrets. Usually Sora enjoyed gazing into his seemingly fathomless eyes, but for a while now she'd felt that something was missing. Something that warmed her heart in a place that Matt's cerulean stare and singular smile could never reach. That cold, dead part of her that refused to thaw no matter how much love and compassion it was bombarded with. Matt's eyes could only see so far. Sora's soul alone knew what her tender embraces and soft kisses hid. Strange. This apathetic part of her had only emerged when....  
  
"Hey, Sora, is that new?" Sora jerked her head up, surprised as Matt's voice sliced through the comforting silence. She looked down at her T-Shirt.  
  
"Yep!" Mimi replied for her, grateful to the teenage boy for breaking what was - for her - an uncomfortable silence. She smiled broadly. "I picked it out. Pretty good choice, don't you think?"  
  
"I sure do." Matt agreed. "But then again, I'd think anything looks good on you, Sora."  
  
Mimi giggled, then brought one delicate wrist up to her elfin face. "Oh my gosh, is that the time? We'd better get going, Sora. We're wasting valuable shopping time." She jumped to her feet, smoothing down her fashionable white skirt as she did so. Slowly, Sora rose to stand beside her.  
  
"You wanna come with us, Matt?" Mimi asked the still-seated boy. He shook his head, causing his blonde hair to wave slightly and brush against his neck. Several girls nearby shot him appreciative glance, but Matt had long since learned to ignore this kind of attention.  
  
"No thanks." He replied. "I hate shopping - unless its for a new guitar."  
  
"You and me both." Sora added, finally leaving the sombre state that had struck her when she sat down. Mimi and Matt both grinned at the reappearance of the Sora they knew. These minor funks were nothing new, and it was a well-known fact that given time Sora always shook them off and returned to her normal happy self.  
  
Only Sora's soul knew the truth.  
  
"Now, Mimi, I have only one request before we start out." She said, mock seriously.  
  
"And what might that be?" The teenage girl shot back, matching her friend's tone exactly, but with repressed laughter bubbling clearly beneath the surface.  
  
"No more clothes stores!"  
  
Mimi pulled a face. "Aw, you're no fun!" She pouted, jutting out her bottom lip like a child deprived if its favourite toy. Suddenly, an idea hit her, and this psuedo-mournful expression vanished in favour of one composed completely of delight and excitement at her own cleverness. "Hey, Matt. I'm staying over at Sora's tonight. Why don't you come over and hang out for a while. It'll be fun." She gazed expectantly at him.  
  
"Well, if Sora doesn't mind...." Matt began.  
  
"Of course she doesn't mind, do you Sora?" It was a rhetorical question, but Sora answered anyway.  
  
"No, I'd love for you to come over, Matt. You know you're always welcome, and since Mimi's here it'll be just like old times." Except several members of their party would be absent, one of them permanently....  
  
"Then it's all settled." Mimi stated triumphantly. "We'll see you at about eight, OK?"   
  
"Sure." Matt said simply. He knew it was no use arguing when Mimi was around. If she got something into her head then it was nigh on impossible to dissuade her from it. The blonde boy watched with amusement as Mimi grabbed Sora's hand and marched purposefully off, dragging her friend unceremoniously behind her. He followed them with his sapphire eyes until they left the park, and his sight. Then he leaned back and craned his neck to stare up into the cloudless sky. It was much too beautiful a day to feel anything except happiness, but all the same, Matt couldn't help worrying about a certain chestnut haired girl.  
  
Sora had changed a lot in the past year. Helplessly, Matt had watched as she drew further and further into herself. He couldn't blame her really. He missed Tai too. Despite their initial animosity, after their adventures in the Digital World the two boys had become firm friends, always there to help each other no matter what the problem was. Matt smiled sadly as he recalled how he and Garurumon had been forced to attack Tai's other best friend, Agumon, when he was captured by the Digimon Emperor. That had been so long ago, and so much had happened since then, but the teenage boy still recalled how Tai had looked when telling them to attack his Digimon partner. Hazel eyes so filled with pain and the knowledge that he was betraying his friend, despite the good cause his actions were in aid of. But that was Tai. Always ready to make the tough decisions nobody else was willing to deal with. The leadership skills he'd acquired when they first went to the Digital World had never truly left him, and he knew what was best for other people even if it meant he got hurt in the process.  
  
Matt felt the loss of his friend acutely. A year wasn't nearly enough to grieve over someone you'd been through so much with. Who else could understand quite how it felt to face off against Apocalymon? Or worry about a younger sibling in a strange and foreign world? Fretting about their safety, watching them grow up, and then finally realising that despite all your good intentions, they didn't need your help any more. He sighed. Nobody, he silently answered himself. Nobody except Tai....  
  
A single, solitary bird twittered in a nearby tree. It tipped its head to the side for a moment, listening for a reply. Deciding there was none, it leapt from the verdant braches of its leafy perch and soared away on a thermal. Matt watched it go, then mutely rose from the wooden bench. Casting a last look around, he made his way out of the park.   
  
Only a sad soul knows the truth behind a false smile.  
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AUTHOR'S NOTES: So, what did you think? Please be gentle, I spent a lot of time on this and it IS my first proper fic and all. I wasn't sure when I submitted this one - it just didn't seem as good as the last - and considered putting up the next part with it, but that would involve putting up several more pages and I thought that perhaps this one was long enough already. Maybe U think differently? If so, pleeeeease let me know. If U think I should discontinue writing this then let me know about that too. All C&C is welcome, and I mean ALL! I have several more chapters waiting in the wings if NE1 is interested, and my brain is positively bubbling over with ideas, but if nobody fancies reading then I completely understand. Just let me know, K?  
  
Ta.  
  
Scribbler : D 


	3. Chapter Three ~ Broken Dreams

DICLAIMER: It's disclaimer time again, boys and girls. You know the drill by now. Digimon isn't mine (worse luck!) it belongs to Toei and Saban. This story, however, IS mine, and to all people even THINKING about plagiarizing, I warn you, I took a crash course in circus skills during my day off, and am now a crack shot with knives, (as well as many other kitchen utensils.) If you do decide to risk my wrath, then I promise you, I will not be held responsible for my actions! (I lose more knives that way.)  
Blurbish over, I now open the door to the third part of my fic. This chapter may seem a little strange at first, but trust me; all shall be revealed later on. For now, just sit back, enjoy, and try not to vomit too much.  
___________________  
  
"The Darkness Within" By Scribbler  
Chapter Three ~ "Broken Dreams"  
___________________  
  
"A man is not old until regrets take the place of dreams." -- John Barrymore  
___________________  
  
The little boy cowered into a tiny ball. Around him walls of flame glowed brightly, licking his skin and singing his hair. Silently he cried, tears sliding down his grimy cheeks. He looked down at his hands. They were smeared with a deep red. His clothes too were stained with the same dark liquid, and tears dripped from his face to mix with the sticky fluid.  
  
He had to get away. Had to. But around him were angles, too many angles, blocking any escape, and beyond them the flames growled hungrily. He tried to climb out, but slid impotently down into the pit below. He attempted to call for help, but no words would come. Who would he call anyway? Nobody cared. Nobody would come to save him from the flames.  
  
All at once the brilliant portent of death evaporated, and the boy cringed. Blood dripped down from somewhere above his head, running through his hair and across his scalp. The stench of burned flesh filled his nostrils as he gazed horrified at the scene before him.  
  
"I didn't mean to." His voice protested, tinnily, as if he were trapped within some giant metal container. Then another voice, his and yet not his own. Deeper, but no less scared. "I didn't mean to."  
  
Blank eyes stared accusingly at him, and he scrambled backwards until his back struck something soft. A pair of small arms grasped him in a frightened embrace, and he whispered comfortingly to them. Protection. That was all the boy could think about. Protection. He wouldn't let her down again. Not this time. Not now.  
  
A bolt of pure darkness flew from the void. Protection. Protectorate. He twisted to cover the fearful arms. Pain. Agony. Lancing through his body like an electric shock, the blackness pierced him. He felt it slice his flesh. Felt it fill his chest, consuming his heart into the void.  
  
"Sorry." Was all he could murmur. "I'm so sorry."  
  
Feeling his life seeping away, he turned to gaze up at the towering inferno of flesh and fire. Their struggle seemed so far away now. He could feel himself drifting on a sea of nothingness. Dying. So this was what death felt like. It felt.... empty.  
  
What was that? A voice? A voice calling him back. She sounded so afraid. He hated her being afraid. It was his job to protect her from her fear. His, and his alone. The tiny boy fought against the darkness with all his heart and soul, but he was losing. He was leaving her all alone.  
  
Suddenly, a light exploded in his chest. Was it in his chest? Or did it come from outside? Whatever its origin, it drove the darkness from him, filling his veins with brightness so glaring he was forced to shut his hazel eyes.   
  
When he opened them again, he recoiled in horror. Gone were the burning and the frightened hands. Replaced by a tableau so grotesque it caused bile to rise in his throat. He gagged as a bony hand reached towards him, dripping with crimson juice. His hands were wet; he could sense the blood running down his face. He'd done this. It was he. The darkness had won, and now he was the enemy.  
  
Turning, he ran. Ran and ran until he could run no more, but still he kept going. He was one with the enemy. A child of darkness. It was his fault. His fault! He was created in the darkness. Forged in the garden of evil. It was his fault. He did this. He caused all this pain and suffering. It was he!  
  
A face. He held out his hand. Help me. Take me away from here. Take me away from the darkness, into the light. But the face was already gone, and he felt ribbons of new blood running through his fingers.  
  
Why was he doing this? Why? Why did the darkness not let him die? Death was an escape, yet he couldn't die. It wouldn't allow the vessel to die. He stopped, panting, threw his head back and screamed at the blackness encasing him.  
  
"Why me? Why do I do these things? WHY?"  
  
His only answer was mocking laughter. It slithered inside his ear, wrapping itself around his brain like a noose. Slowly, his hand began to rise by itself. The boy struggled to stop it, but some inexorable force pulled his muscles, overriding his commands with ease. He watched, helplessly as his fingers became steel knives, wickedly sharp and gleaming, though there was no light for them to gleam in. They shone with a cruel dark light. A mockery of all the light stands for.   
  
With a gasp of pain, he plunged the blades deep into his chest. Slicing through skin, bone, and organs with ease the knives went, until they found their prize. Ripping, cutting, lacerating he grasped the pulsing trophy and wrenched it free with a might not his own. There was a wet splat of entrails hitting a floor that wasn't really there, as his arm stretched out unbidden before him. He gazed excruciatingly at his own heart beating in his hand. It dripped existence onto the floor, and he fell to his knees in agonized torment, watching as it slowed. Yet he didn't die. He bled, he hurt, he cried, but he didn't die. With a final heave the heart ceased to beat, and the boy collapsed face down into his own pulp and mess. He'd failed. He'd lost. And now everything would come to an end. He could feel the darkness creeping across his skin, permeating his being, and taking him for the last time. The world would end. And it was all his fault. His fault....  
  
Then there was only black.  
___________________  
  
With a jolt, a hazel-eyed figure sat bolt upright in the shadows. His breathing was harsh, coming in short wracking gasps, and his heart beat like a galloping horse's hooves. Inadvertently, he turned clumsily onto his hands and knees and vomited violently, all over the ground. Panting, he clutched at his chest with one hand. His heart....  
  
Where was he? How did he get here?   
  
He couldn't remember.  
  
Gradually his breathing slowed, though he didn't remove his hand from its position on his chest. His slim fingers curled into the slack clothing covering his body as he sank back onto his haunches. He'd been dreaming again. But it had seemed so real. He had felt the knives pierce his skin, seen the pulsing organ ripped from his flesh by his own hand.  
  
What was happening to him? Why did that dream seem so real?  
  
The mysterious figure narrowed his eyes and glanced around him. He was in a deserted alleyway, quite far from the centre of the city considering the distinct lack of noise. There appeared to be no one else around, and he released a lungful of air slowly through his mouth.  
  
The last thing he remembered was searching for someone. Someone he knew from long ago. The identity of the person remained tantalizingly out of reach as remnant haziness from his sleep reluctantly released his jumbled mind. He'd found the person, a girl. She'd seemed so sad. He remembered feeling sorry for her, and sad along with her. Then what? Had he just left and gone to sleep in this alleyway? That didn't make any sense, why couldn't he remember leaving? Or getting here, wherever here was? And why would he sleep in an alleyway where anyone could find him?  
  
All at once it struck him. It had happened again. Just as it had happened all the other times. A moment of true emotion, then a black out, then the dream. Finally he would awaken, hands covered in...  
  
Panicked, he glanced down at his hands. They appeared soft grey in the incongruously gentle moonlight. Tracing the pattern of lines and wrinkles etched into his skin were strange dark markings, almost black in the poor light. With a sickening lurch, the figure recognized them. Dried blood. Not his own either.  
  
What had he done? Who had he hurt this time? He knew it had been a bad idea to return to Tokyo, so why had he come?  
  
To see them. To see her...  
  
That girl! What had he done? The figure scramble desperately to his feet, stumbling slightly such was his speed. Was the blood hers? Had he...  
  
No, he couldn't bear to think about it. He couldn't bear to contemplate what he might have done. He shivered, as the chilling memory of a child's face hove into his tattered mind. A smiling face, framed by wispy flaxen hair, so warm and caring, offering him friendship and compassion. Then the same face, bloodied and wide eyed. He stepped backwards, regaining his balance. He wouldn't let it happen again. He wouldn't make her like all the others who had touched his life with warmth.  
  
Coat flying out behind him, heedless of the biting chill whose teeth gnawed at his skin, the enigmatic figure fled down the dark alley. His feet slapped against the frosty ground, and as he ran, he couldn't help sensing that a substantial amount of time had passed whilst he'd slept. How long, and how he was aware of this remained unknown to him, as the indescribable urge to find that girl filled his brain.   
  
I'm coming. Oh God, what have I done? But I'm coming....  
___________________  
  
Sora stirred the three mugs of cocoa absently; watching as tiny white marshmallows haltingly sank beneath the warm brown surface. Like soggy icebergs they cruised around inside each of the mugs, spinning slightly as she created minor whirlpools with her spoon. The chestnut haired girl laid down the utensil in the sink and picked up the tray on which the mugs rested - she'd clean it up later. It wasn't as if her mother was here to nag at her for being untidy. Mrs. Takenouchi had decided to stay at a friend's house, unwilling as she was to play gooseberry in an apartment full of teenagers. Gratefully, Sora had accepted her mother's decision, and when eight o' clock arrived the older woman was already safely despatched across town for the night, leaving her daughter and friends to their own devices.  
  
Carrying the tray through to her bedroom, Sora pushed open the door with her foot, tilting slightly as she balanced on one leg. Matt and Mimi looked up as she returned from her foray to the kitchen, and smiled at her from where they sat cross-legged on the floor. Mimi had exchanged her white skirt for a pair of stonewash jeans and stylish sweater, whilst Matt wore his trademark black T-Shirt. Setting the tray down on the atrocious pink dresser, Sora joined them, passing out the mugs as she did so. Mimi sipped delicately at hers before widening her eyes considerably and going into a coughing fit.  
  
"I was about to warn you," Sora began, taking the beverage from her friend and slapping her on the back, "that's it's still boiling hot, so you'd better leave it for a while or you'll burn your mouth."  
  
Mimi glanced up at her with watery eyes. "Choke now, talk later." Was all she could manage to gasp before another cough racked her body. Matt laughed and she shot him a murderous look. "And what's so funny?"  
  
"You." He replied irreverently. "Trying to act so cool and sophisticated, then spilling cocoa down your front like a baby." He pointed, and Mimi's hazel eyes travelled down to where a sticky brown stain was smeared vertically down her yellow sweater.   
  
"Oh no!" She cried. "I only just got this today! Do you know how difficult it is to get cocoa out of wool?"  
  
"I'll soak it for you if you like, Mimi." Sora offered. "That might get some of the mark out, and you could wear something of mine instead."  
  
"Something of yours?" Mimi repeated incredulously. "No thanks, I think I'll stick to my ruined sweater. I don't really think soccer shirts are my style, and I doubt you have much else. You've probably thrown out all the clothes your mother bought for you."  
  
"If I had a death wish, yeah." Sora replied, giggling. Mimi's face cracked at the sight of her friend laughing, and she dissolved into a fit of helpless laughter.  
  
Matt smiled. It was so good to see Sora laughing again. She did it so rarely these days. He set his cup down beside him and leaned forward to pick up a video from the small pile Sora had laid out. She and Mimi had wheeled the TV into her bedroom before he arrived, as well as renting an assortment of films for them to choose from. He read the title critically.  
  
"Splatter Knife?" Both girls turned at his words.  
  
"Yeah, what of it?" Sora questioned innocently. Matt picked up the next cassette case.  
  
"I Was A Teenage Vampire? Vacation Of Fear? It Came From The Cafeteria? Did you guys rent anything other than second rate horror movies?"  
  
"Nope." The pink tressed girl gurgled. "Plenty of gore, bad acting and cool locations. What more could you ask from a movie?"  
  
"Um, how about a plot?" The blonde youth suggested. He fell backwards as a pillow hit him in the face.  
  
"Picky picky!" Mimi tutted, then squealed as he tossed it back at her. Spitting out a feather she added; "It was either that or Titanic."  
  
"Forget what I said!" Matt cried, taking 'Splatter Knife' out of its case and pushing it hurriedly into the machine. "I'd rather watch a thousand horror movies then sit through that again."  
  
"Aw, I liked it." Sora protested as she sat next to him. He curled an arm around her shoulders and pulled her close.  
  
"Um...Should I leave?" Mimi asked, an edge of mischievousness to her melodious voice. She ducked as two pillows simultaneously flew at her.  
  
The screen hummed into life and the obligatory rock music opening credits blazed across its slightly curved surface. Mimi sat down, making sure no pillows were in the immediate vicinity. Sora snuggled against Matt, taking comfort in his warmth. He let her lean against him as they watched.  
  
Sora sighed softly. Despite her outward display, she felt peculiar. As if something wasn't quite right. She'd carefully been around the apartment after Matt's arrival, checking that all the doors and windows were locked securely in the hope that this might alleviate the strange feeling of uneasiness growing inside her. It hadn't helped, but she'd decided not to broach the subject with her companions lest she destroy the happy atmosphere surrounding this cosy evening.  
  
It must just be because I'm preoccupied, she reasoned with herself, not concentrating on the movie in front of her. I'm probably just depressed because of what time of year it is. Yeah, that's it. Nothing else. Yet her attempts to reassure herself failed miserably, and the odd sensation increased as the movie went on. Somehow it seemed to centre around the cold part of her heart. The part that had been frozen for so long. The part that not even Matt's affection, or Mimi's friendship could defrost. A blizzard, trapped within her soul.  
  
As the film finished, Matt gazed down at Sora. She hadn't moved her head from his chest for the entire duration of it, and one look at her face told him that she hadn't registered a single minute of gaudy, second rate footage. The tape clicked, whirred, and began to rewind itself. Mimi sat up and stretched.  
  
"Well, wasn't that fun?" she attempted to make light conversation. Matt obliged with an answer.  
  
"Complete tripe, if you ask me. Give me a -" He stopped suddenly.  
  
"Well what do you know about...?" Mimi began in her high-pitched voice, but Matt held up his hand for her to be silent. Sora sat up and looked at him curiously, waffle marks visibly clear on her cheek where she'd been leaning against him.  
  
"What's the matter, Matt?" She whispered. He shook his head.  
  
"I'm not sure. I thought I just heard something."  
  
"Heard something?"  
  
"Yeah. It was coming from outside there." He gestured to the curtain covered glass double doors, which led out onto Sora's balcony. Mimi looked at him with a mixture of disgust and indignance at being silenced.  
  
"Oh, honestly. How could anyone have got out onto Sora's balcony without us knowing? The only way onto it is through this room, unless they decided to fly up for a visit."  
  
Sora ignored her friend's chatter. Matt's hearing had always been very sharp, better than most people's in fact. Perhaps that was what made him such a good musician. Whatever the case, if Matt said he'd heard a noise, then Sora would stake her life that there was something to it.   
  
Matt rose silently to his feet, careful not to knock the empty mug over with his foot. Soundlessly he crept over to the sliding glass doors. One had been left open a crack to let some fresh air into the stuffy room, and he coiled his fingers around the edge of the frame.  
  
The abnormal feeling in Sora's chest was growing rapidly. Her heart started to beat faster as adrenaline inexplicably began pumping through her veins. Something was coming. She didn't know how she knew this, but with ultimate conviction she was sure that something was coming. Something big.  
  
Mimi glanced across at her friend. Sora's eyes were wide, and her hands had balled themselves into tight fists, as if she were hanging onto her silence by a thread. She knelt unmoving in the middle of her bedroom floor, watching Matt unblinkingly as he tensed his muscles. The pink haired teenager transferred her gaze to their companion. A small bead of sweat trickled down Matt's temple, as if he too could sense the tension that hung in the air. Even Mimi felt a distinct change in atmosphere within the room, and she was usually quite unperceptive as far as these sorts of things went.  
  
There was complete silence for a moment. The world seemed to have halted to a standstill, and even the 'Hello Kitty' clock on Sora's wall appeared to have stopped ticking. Everyone held his or her breath. Then, with a sudden burst, Matt wrenched the door and curtain open.  
  
Cold air billowed into the room, and the trio looked eagerly out onto the tiny balcony. Sora gasped, and her hands flew to her mouth. Mimi's jaw dropped, and Matt just stared unbelievingly at what they beheld.  
  
A figure stood outside, back pressed against the metal railings in fear. It wore a tattered black trench coat over what might have once been a grey tracksuit, although it was hard to tell in the poor light filtering from the bedroom. Its arms were thrown up in front of its face, shielding both its eyes and its identity from them. Nobody moved. Then slowly, the figure lowered its arms to reveal a pair of startlingly wide hazel orbs, filled with fear and panic at being discovered. A slash of blue traced its forehead, pushing a substantial amount of brown hair from its tanned visage.  
  
Sora's own eyes grew wide, and she emitted little choking noises of shock. He was slightly older than she remembered, dirtier too, and there was a terror in his eyes like that of an animal caught in the headlights of an oncoming car which hadn't been present the last time she'd seen him. But she knew who was cowering out on her balcony. She knew with all her heart and soul who it was. A face she'd longed for, but thought she'd never see again.   
  
Tai Kamiya.  
___________________  
  
AUTHOR'S NOTES: So, you like? Or not? I absolutely ADORE reading feedback - both good and bad; they both help me with the quality of my writing - so please, review, review, review. Many thanx 2 all who have already read the previous two chapters, and could prise themselves away from the toilet bowl long enough to review them. Much obliged! (Gives thumbs up 2 the screen, then realises it is just that - a screen, and cannot actually answer.) But I digress. If NE1 thinks I need to seek medical assistance rather than continue with this fic, then let me know that too. All R&R welcome, and I'll answer from the loony bin's PC if they let me out of my straight jacket long enough to type. (!)  
By the way, sorry about the haphazard way I keep uploading these chapters. I'm still really new at this, so I'm not sure how fast I'm supposed to get them online. I didn't put NE up yesterday because I got an offer from a university thru the mail and was out celebrating. (YAY!)  
On this end I still have several instalments ready and waiting, so if people would like 2 know what happens next then drop me a line and I'll upload them according to feedback.  
  
Ta muchly.  
  
Scribbler ^_^ (I like this face better than the others, don't U?) 


	4. Chapter Four ~ Forgotten Friends

DISCLAIMER: OK then, iiiiiiiit's (drum roll) disclaimer time again, folks. Digimon does not belong to moi; instead, it's the property of Toei and Saban. I wish it were mine, but there U go - what U want & what U get R 2 different things.   
If NE of U other authors out there think that you 'want' to plagiarize this fic, then let me tell U, you don't! If NE body even thinks about taking this and passing it off as their own, then I'm telling you now, bub (!), fuggeddaboudit! Which closely translates as, "If you do and I catch your sorry butt then there is going 2B some serious violence happening at your place when I get there!"  
Now that's over and done with, (I wasn't trying to insult NE1, believe me, I just though that I'd let people know the basic situation on this side of the keyboard,) I shall introduce the fourth part of my fic. If you have digested the blurb and still like me enough to continue then please, read on and enjoy (if you can.)  
___________________  
  
"The Darkness Within" By Scribbler  
Chapter Four ~ "Forgotten Friends"  
___________________  
  
"Hold a true friend with both your hands." -- Nigerian Proverb  
___________________  
  
Tai crouched lightly on the cold metal of the balcony. Getting up here had been easier than he'd thought, much easier than last time. Sounds of a movie leaked through a crack in the sliding doors before him, accompanied by laughter. She must have friends over. This was good. It meant she was still alive. He sighed quietly. That was a relief; but then, whose was the dried blood on his hands?  
  
He waited for a few minutes, unmoving. Somehow he couldn't bring himself to leave. Some unidentifiable force locked his legs and kept him listening to the friendly sounds filtering from that apartment. Why did he stay? She was safe, so why didn't he go before it was too late? It was dangerous for him to remain, he knew. Both because of his potential discovery and because of...  
  
The sounds of the movie ceased and deafening silence filled the cool night air. Where were the voices? What was happening? Tai jerked his head up, something was wrong. Almost silently he rose to his feet, the only disturbance a slight squeak as one of his sneakers moved fractionally across the metalwork. His eyebrows knit as he listened intently, worry bubbling in his gut.   
  
No! That was dangerous! He couldn't afford to worry! He couldn't afford to feel! They couldn't afford for him to feel! Not now. He pushed the feeling away, forcing it to disappear before it erupted into...  
  
Suddenly the door in front of him flew open and he was blinded by light from inside the room. He covered his eyes with his arms, protecting himself from the prying brightness. A gasp was audible from inside. He'd been discovered! No, they couldn't see him! Not any more! He was dead to them. He was no longer part of their world.  
  
Slowly, and without any real thought to what he was doing, Tai lowered his arms and squinted through the light. There was a person at the door, a boy of about his own age with a mop of dirty blonde hair. Matt Ishida. What was he doing here? And beyond him a pretty pink haired girl cross-legged on the floor, her petite mouth wide open in shock. Mimi Takichawa. Wasn't she supposed to be in America? How did she get to Tokyo?  
  
His friends.   
  
No. Not any more.  
  
His hazel eyes fell upon the third person in the room. She knelt between the two others, slender hands covering her mouth, staring at him with wide eyes. Sora. No, she couldn't see him. He couldn't let her see him like this! Tai panicked, consternation contracting his thin chest and causing his breath to come in short wheezing gasps. Yet he couldn't tear his gaze away.  
  
Sora watched him unblinkingly. How could this be? Was this a ghost? Or was it really him? Tai? Behind her hand the corners of her mouth twitched, torn between screaming and smiling.  
  
The boy on the balcony suddenly turned and grasped the rail with one hand. In a second he had vaulted over and disappeared down into the deep dark night.  
  
Sora screamed. Matt ran forward and stared down at where Tai had vanished. Mimi rushed to her friend's side as he scanned the ground. Tai couldn't have survived a jump like that. It was impossible, they were four stories up. Yet something made him search the darkness for his friend.  
  
There, was that...? Yes, it was. A figure speeding away into the darkness. Unhurt, if the rate at which he travelled was anything to go by. Matt gaped. How could someone have gotten away from a drop like that without at least breaking a leg? He considered yelling, but turned at the sound of sobbing behind him.  
  
Sora sat hugging her friend, and Mimi comfortingly rubbed her back as heaving gasps wracked her slender body. Matt knelt beside them, unsure of what to do. He was still in a state of shock himself, and one look at Mimi's expanded hazel eyes told him that she was too. His throat felt dry, as if he hadn't drunk anything for weeks, but he forced a few words out.  
  
"Was that.... Tai?"  
  
Mimi nodded. "I think so."  
  
"It was." Sora choked, her face buried in Mimi's yellow sweater. "I'd know him anywhere. Oh, Tai." How could this be? Tai was dead.   
  
Wasn't he?  
  
"So what do we do now?" Asked Mimi in a strained voice. Matt's face was grim.  
  
"We call on the people who can hep us get to the bottom of this."  
  
"Who? The police?"  
  
Matt shook his head. No, not the police. They couldn't help with this kind of situation. If they went running to the cops saying they'd just seen their dead best friend out on Sora's balcony in the middle of the night, why they'd just laugh at them. Any adult would. No, they needed people who were used to dealing with strange phenomena and would believe what they said.  
  
"We call the Digidestined."  
___________________  
  
Far away, in a traditional Japanese house out in the country, someone was waiting. A teenage girl, no more than a child really, knelt on her futon with her hands together in silent prayer and her eyes closed. She wore a pair of pale pink pyjamas, and short brown hair tumbled wispily across her gaunt face. She hadn't moved in hours, and her companion was beginning to think she had fallen asleep where she was.  
  
With a small sigh, the girl straightened up. Her hazel eyes opened and she stared out of the window opposite her bed. Silently she let her hands drop to her sides, ruffling the sheet of her makeshift bed with one slim index finger. Grandma had gone to sleep hours ago. She had listened carefully as the old woman padded to her room along the hall and retired to bed, thinking her granddaughter had done the same. How wrong she was.  
  
"Something's wrong." The girl breathed dulcetly, her voice barely above a whisper.  
  
From the folds of blankets on a nearby wicker chair something stirred. A pointed white ear emerged, followed by an azure coloured eye set in snowy fur.  
  
"What's wrong, Kari?" The bundle asked sleepily.  
  
"I can feel it." Kari murmured.  
  
"Feel what?" The eye queried, coming more fully awake.  
  
Kari appeared not to have heard the question, and kept on resolutely gazing out of the window. "Can't you?"  
  
"No, I can't!" The mound of fabric snapped. "I haven't a clue what you're talking about Kari!"  
  
The girl swivelled her head around and glanced apologetically at the quivering bundle. "Sorry, Gatomon, but I haven't had this kind of feeling in such a long time. Not since we were in the Digiworld fighting the Dark Masters."  
  
"What?" A small white cat-like creature bounded out of the chair and came to sit next to the sage little girl. "What kind of feeling is it?"  
  
"It's...like a voice, calling me. Telling me things." Kari shook her head and gave a wry smile. "It sounds stupid, I know."  
  
"Not to me it doesn't." Gatomon urged. "What's it saying now?"  
  
"It's saying..." Kari trailed off as if listening to something her friend couldn't hear. Gatomon twitched impatiently.  
  
"Well?"   
  
"It's saying that something's been set in motion. Something big."  
  
"Does it say what this 'something' is?"  
  
"No."  
  
Gatomon thought for a moment. She'd known today would be special. Her whiskers had hurt this morning, and something always happened when her whiskers hurt for no apparent reason. The old woman had thought she'd had fleas the way she'd been scratching at her face. Stupid thing, trying to put a flea collar on me. I'd half a mind to give her a piece of my mind. What a shock she'd have had if she knew I could talk. Pretty little pussikins my paw!  
  
"Gatomon?"  
  
"What else does it say?" The feline Digimon asked, having a good idea of who, or rather what, was talking to Kari.  
  
Kari shut her eyes for a moment. "It says.... that it's time to go back." She looked at her Digimon curiously. "Gatomon, does that mean...?"  
  
"Yeah, Kari. I think it does. You can't really argue with the powers of light when the call you to do something."   
  
Kari's face lit up, but fell again as a sudden thought struck her. "But how do we get there? It's the middle of the night, and I don't think Grandma would understand if I asked her to drive us."  
  
"I have a better idea." Gatomon grinned wickedly. "You still got your Digivice?"  
  
"Yeah. But there's no computer around here, the closest grandma's got is her car radio. Besides, you know I can't open a portal to the Digiworld any more."  
  
"I wasn't thinking along those lines at all." Gatomon chuckled at her own astuteness. "I was thinking of a faster, more stylish mode of transportation."  
  
"What do you mean?" Kari wondered, perplexed. Then it dawned on her what her Digimon partner was getting at, and a grin started to spread slowly across her face. "But it'll only work if Azulongmon's power is still in my D3."  
  
"Only one way to find out." Gatomon purred, heading for the door. "Let's go."  
___________________  
  
Officer Seiku O'Grady rubbed his forehead with the back of his hand. He didn't need this. One of the junior officers had just brought in another body for the autopsy department, handed the paperwork to his senior and walked away again without so much as a 'do you want some help?' Seiku grunted. These newbies were all the same. Big and tough in front of their teammates, but when it came down to the nitty gritty of handling a corpse who did they turn to? The pot bellied mug above them in rank, that's who, he thought ruefully. Why do I always get stuck dealing with these things? He wheeled the trolley containing the latest victim of Tokyo nightlife down the hall and through the swinging double doors to its designated destination.  
  
Seiku hated the autopsy department. Cold and clinical, the whitewashed walls had never really appealed to him. Plus there was a funny smell that always seemed to hang around the place - like disinfectant mixed with air freshener. There seemed to be nobody around.  
  
"Hello?" He called in his gruff voice. No answer. Now what? What was he supposed to do with a dead body? He glared around the echoing room, irritated. It was bad enough they made him come down here, now they expected him to hang around with a corpse? What was he meant to do, strike up a conversation with it? Ask it how life was treating it? Not likely. Honestly, you had to wonder about anyone who would voluntarily train to poke around inside dead things. You wouldn't catch him looking into one, no siree....  
  
"Excuse me, can I help you?"  
  
Seiku turned rather abruptly to see a shapely young woman come through the swinging doors behind him. She was slim, rather short and wore a white lab coat. A pair of steel spectacles perched precariously on her nose, and there was a clipboard clutched possessively in her hands. She looked at him through curious green eyes, her hair pulled back into a tight bun on the back of her head.  
  
Things are looking up, Seiku thought to himself. He coughed. "Ahem, uh, the name's O'Grady, ma'am. Seiku O'Grady. Officer Seiku O'Grady, in fact"  
  
"Fiiiine." The woman drawled dubiously, obviously wondering what this strange man was doing in the autopsy department. "And why might you be here, Officer O'Grady?"  
  
"Call me Seiku, please." He grinned at her through his thick moustache. Oh help, she thought.  
  
"Alright, Seiku. Now, would you mind telling me why you're in my lab, and what that thing is?" She pointed at the trolley the plump man was leaning on.   
  
"Oh, this thing?" Seiku blustered. "Just another poor soul one of my junior officers brought in. thought I'd bring him down here for you, Miss..."  
  
"Walters. Jean Walters. And how kind of you. If you'll just bring the body over here where I can get a better look at it, Officer O'Grady."  
  
"Seiku." He corrected.  
  
She sighed resignedly. "Seiku." She had a slight accent. Seiku hazarded a guess at it being French, although he wasn't really sure.  
  
Together they wheeled the trolley over to a standing lamp in the corner. Jean swivelled the lamp round and switched it on so that it illuminated the blanket covering the body with stark yellow light. She turned to a table next to her and pulled on a pair of skin-tight plastic gloves. She was in the process of attaching a mask to her face when she realised that the leering police officer was still there.  
  
"Um, you can go now, Off- I mean Seiku. I can handle proceedings from here."  
  
Seiku shuffled his feet. "Well, I was hoping I could stay and watch you work, Jean. I've always been interested in the study of clog-poppers, so to speak," He laughed.  
  
Jean groaned inwardly. Could he get any more obvious? Some men just couldn't take a hint. Oh well, best let him stay. One spot of blood and he'd probably be out of there like a shot, most of them were. She handed him a pair of gloves.  
  
"Put these on, and don't touch anything, please."  
  
Turning her attention back to the task at hand, Jean gently pulled back the sheet covering the body before her. Even with her training she recoiled at the sight of it. It was nasty in the truest sense of the word.  
  
"Ugh, how long was this thing lying around for?" She asked, gagging slightly as a wave of stench hit her.  
  
"Um, I'm not sure." Seiku conceded. "A couple of days perhaps? It was in a deserted area of town, so it could have been there weeks and nobody would have known. We reckon it's probably some drunkard who got on the wrong side of someone with an extremely bad temper and violent tendencies."  
  
"I don't think so." Jean muttered, more to herself than to her unwanted cohort. Something stirred at the back of her mind, but the podgy officer interrupted her.  
  
"Phew, what a stink!" He wafted his hand around trying to dissipate the odour of rotting flesh. Jean growled to herself. "Is it as bad as the others?"  
  
"Others?"   
  
"Yeah, the other bodies brought in earlier in the week. They were pretty messed up too, from what I heard. Is this one as bad?"  
  
"I wouldn't know." Jean replied, intrigued. "I only started working here this morning, and I haven't had a chance to look at all the files yet. Did you see them?"  
  
"No fear!" Seiku began, and then stopped. "Um, I mean, I wasn't privy to those cases. I only read about them in the newspapers afterwards, same as everybody else."  
  
"Interesting." Jean turned and seated herself at a computer terminal nest to her workbench. She started to type rapidly, murmuring to herself as she did so. "On initial visual examination, victim appears to have been decapitated with an unknown weapon, and the head has not been found. There is also evidence of some form of electrocution, as well as marks indicating a beating of some sort. The body is unidentified and several days old, although an exact number is unavailable at present." She paused for a moment, and then hurriedly clicked at something with her mouse.  
  
"What're you doing?" Asked Seiku, anxious to turn away from the corpse before he heaved. Several photographs appeared on the screen as he spoke.  
  
"There, I knew there was a connection. Now to find the files for this past week in Tokyo." The younger woman half whispered.  
  
"Pardon? Connection?" Seiku was confused. The pictures before him all seemed to be of different dead bodies, taken from various angles.  
  
"To the Headless Killer." Jean explained cryptically. One glance at the hairy man's face told her he didn't understand and she sighed. "For the past year I was working at an autopsy unit investigating unsolved and unusual murders. About the time I started, a string of murders began appearing all across Japan. At first there didn't seem to be any connection between them. They would just infrequently appear in random small towns, usually in the countryside. But over time I began to notice a few patterns concerning them. Number one, they all appeared in a line, as if someone was travelling from village to village, killing and them moving onto the next. But despite my theory, there didn't appear to be any evidence to support it. Until I started comparing the autopsy reports from each one. Enter pattern number two. Take a look at these photographs. What similarities can you see between them?" She indicted to the screen with one plastic encased finger. Seiku peered at it for a second.  
  
"Uh, they're all dead?" He offered hopefully. Jean snorted in disgust at his answer.  
  
"They've all been decapitated, fool. Plus, in each report it says that the bodies show signs of being electrocuted as well as beaten."  
  
"Oh, I knew that!" Seiku vaunted quickly.  
  
Sure you did, Jean glared at him. "The symptoms are exactly the same as our friend over there, and if I'm right - " There was a musical ping from the computer as it finished the job she'd set it to do. More pictures flashed up on the screen, each accompanied by a small amount of text. Jean smiled triumphantly. "Bingo! I knew it; they're exactly the same. The Headless Killer's in Tokyo, I'm sure of it."  
  
"What?" Seiku was trying hard not to throw up as the rank stink from the carcass behind him invaded his nostrils. "What do you mean, here?"  
  
"It's not the first time he's been in the capitol, either." Jean stated almost exultantly at her discovery. "He was here before. In fact, Tokyo was where it all started one year ago."  
  
"What are you talking about? How did it start in Tokyo?"  
  
Jean once again pointed to a beheaded image on the screen. "With the death of a boy in Odaiba, named Tai Kamiya. The records state that he was killed in a botched burglary at his home along with his parents and family pet. I, however, have a different theory."  
  
"And what might that be?" Seiku asked sarcastically. He had had just about enough of this. There must be an easier way to pick up women.  
  
"I believe that his was just the first in a long line of deaths, and now I intend to prove it by finding pattern number three."  
  
"Pattern number three?" Seiku repeated fruitlessly as Jean rose and moved across to the dead body on the trolley. She delicately raised it's arm and, with a pair of silvery surgical scissors, cut away a piece of rotting fabric from it's clothing. She then stared down into the hole she'd created as if looking for something.  
  
"Each body had a strange mark on them. I can have proof for my theory that the Headless Killer's in Tokyo if I can find one on this poor person." She skirted round to the other side and proceeded with a similar check there. Finally she cut off the entire chest portion of the corpse's attire. The flesh beneath was green and an evil smell escaped when she moved the tattered garments from their accustomed position. Seiku was now certain that he was going to perform a most spectacular Technicolor yawn, and was about to voice his feelings when a cry of success sounded from his female comrade.  
  
"Found it!" she practically yelled. "Quick, come see."   
  
Curious despite his churning stomach, and unwilling to give up the chance of a date with the pretty - albeit, quite odd and morbid - woman, Seiku complied and joined her at the carcass' side.  
  
Jean gestured to the very centre of its chest, and Seiku leaned over to get a better look. There, etched into the skin like a brand on a Steer was a strange mark. It was constructed of three different sized circles, each one contained inside the other. Around these were eight small triangles, points facing away from the curved surface. The combined effect of these shapes resembled a disjointed sun, like an abstract logo from a consumer product or something. It was actually quite pretty, until you noticed the dried brown stains crusted into the cracks and realised that it had been deliberately cut into somebody's flesh, and from the looks of the blood they had been alive when it happened too.  
  
Seiku gagged involuntary. "How.... interesting." Was all he could manage to say before he fainted on the floor.  
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Matt sat self-consciously on the end of Sora's bed, unsure of what to do. It had been just under an hour since he called the remaining members of the Digidestined, and needless to say, they had come running without hesitation. Now most of them were gathered in Sora's apartment, primarily in her bedroom, waiting for him to say something.   
  
Aesthetically, the group of youngsters hadn't changed much, and where vicissitudes were visible they were subtle. The most striking alteration was definitely evident in Yolei. The teenager's hair had been cut into a stylish bob, and her glasses were no more. Matt assumed she now wore contact lenses, as her vision didn't seem to be impaired in the slightest by her lack of spectacles. The pink tressed girl wore a tartan skirt beneath her knee length leather jacket, and a red beret sat jauntily to one side on her head. In all, her mien spoke of extreme self-confidence and maturity - two traits not necessarily found together in her the last time Matt had seen her. The younger girl seemed much older than she was - older, perhaps, than some of her elders whom she now sat among. Matt also noticed almost laughingly that her hand was clamped possessively over Izzy's, who sat next to her with an expression plastered on his face of both contentment and embarrassment at her action, mixed with curiosity and inquisitiveness concerning their summons hither.  
  
Sora and Mimi sat cross-legged on the floor next to Matt, and he was uncomfortably aware that from where he was positioned he was much taller than anyone else in the room - even Joe. Eight pairs of eyes stared at him expectantly, and he shifted uncomfortably under their gaze. The silence was stifling. Ken had not yet arrived - having further to travel since he lived on the opposite side of town to everyone else. Matt knew he shouldn't start with Ken still missing, but with every passing second he pictured mental images of Tai getting further and further away from them. Clearing his throat - a sound which seemed at least ten times louder than usual in the quiet room - the blonde youth decided to begin with a neutral subject.  
  
"Um, did anyone call Kari?" Was his voice usually that high? Surely not.  
  
"No." TK replied, voice dull and unemotional at the sound of her name. "She never left any address or contact number when she left a year ago. Guess she didn't want anybody to reach her anymore."  
  
Matt could have kicked himself. What a stupid subject to bring up! He knew that TK had harboured feelings for Kari, and it had hurt him badly when she severed all contact after the tragic events of last year. How could his own brother have thought that Tai's little sister was a safe topic to bring up at a time like this?  
  
The sound of someone clearing his throat brought Matt back to reality with a bump.  
  
"Uh, Matt?" He looked up at the speaker. It was Cody. Matt already knew that the small boy had been forced to sneak out of his own apartment in order to attend this hastily called meeting. Neither his worrisome mother nor slightly more lenient grandfather would have consented to his coming, so the usually honest-to-a-fault Cody had been forced into deception.  
  
By me, Matt thought ruefully to himself. No, by Tai....  
  
"Matt, I think I speak for all of us when I say, what's this all about?" Cody continued.  
  
"Yeah." Joe agreed. "You call me up in the middle of the night, gabble some incoherent message about gathering all of the Digidestined together, and then hang up. I, for one, would like to know what's going on." He stared almost accusingly in Matt's direction.   
  
Matt sighed. This was it, Ken or not, he couldn't put it off any longer. Not when they had asked him point-blank what they were doing there. Not when they all looked to him for some explanation, for guidance, for leadership...  
  
No! That mantle wasn't his to claim. It never had been and it never would. Not whilst he possessed this crucial information about the true holder of that title. Matt sighed softly, gaining strength from the small exhalation of breath.  
  
"I won't lie to you all. I know that this is too important for me to skirt around it like a coward, so I'm just gonna come right out and say it." He stared hard at all of them, as if daring them to doubt his softly spoken words. "Tonight, Mimi, Sora and I saw Tai at this apartment."  
  
There was a collective gasp from everyone present, followed by a barrage of questions, comments and accusations thrown in equal measure at the reluctant teenager.  
  
"What do you mean, 'saw' him?" Asked Izzy.  
  
"Was it a ghost?" Yolei added, leaning forward.  
  
"No, he was real, and very much alive." Matt replied. As of yet, neither Sora nor Mimi had spoken to the crowd of teenagers, and he looked desperately at them in turn for support on how to handle the situation. Silently, Mimi stood. The avalanche of word ceased with her strained expression, and eight sets of ears listened intently to what she said.  
  
"Matt is telling the truth. Tai was here, alive and - as far as we could see - well. He was out on Sora's balcony, but when we discovered him he took off."  
  
"What do you mean, 'took off'?" Queried Yolei, who was by far the most verbal of the group at the moment. Curiously Davis hadn't said a word, and remained staring at the carpet throughout all that was said. Mimi turned and faced the younger girl, staring her squarely in the eye.  
  
"I mean exactly what I said. Tai jumped off the balcony and ran away."  
  
"What?" Izzy exploded, unable to believe his ears. "But... but that's scientifically impossible. Nobody could jump off the fourth floor of a building and still be uninjured enough to move, let alone run."  
  
"Well he did." Mimi answered curtly.  
  
"I don't believe you." Izzy shot back.  
  
"Neither do I." Yolei supplemented vehemently.  
  
"I must admit," Cody conceded, "it does sound rather far-fetched. I mean, Tai's supposed to be dead, right? They found his body...."  
  
Suddenly Sora leapt to her feet, anger shining in her hazel eyes. "Shut up all of you!" She shouted. Everyone was taken aback by this abrupt show of emotion from the erstwhile-subdued girl, even Matt and Mimi. Sora continued, betrayal and fury palpable in her quivering voice. "How dare you! All of you! Tai isn't supposed to be dead. He was never supposed to be dead! He died. That was it. It wasn't meant to happen, and now you all sit here saying that he's supposed to be gone, like it was fate or something. You never even stopped to consider that he might actually have been alive all this time. You call yourselves friends, but not one of you is willing to believe that he's come back. That we have a chance to save him now where we couldn't save him before! Are you? ARE YOU?" She glared around at the circle of wide-eyed youngsters, challenging them with her gaze to dispute what she said. No one did, and she continued defiantly. "I know that it was him. That he's alive. And I'm not just going to let him slip away from me. Not when I've got a second chance to.... to bring him home."  
  
The ensuing rift of silence left by her scathing words hung in the air like a choking fog. Simultaneously, all members of the Digidestined team seemed to have been struck dumb by the zeal of the piqued girl before them. Suddenly, exhibiting a tremendous amount of courage and faith, one of them stood to meet Sora's gaze with one matching her conviction and credence particle for particle, molecule for resolute molecule, atom for audacious atom.  
  
"I believe you." Davis said quietly, his usually boisterous and arrogant voice softer than ever heard before. Sora looked gratefully at him.  
  
"I... I do too." TK stammered, wary of ruining the precious moment Davis' unusually noble act had incurred. One by one, the Digidestined agreed with him, until not one person in that room didn't believe that somehow, inexplicably, their leader had been returned to them, and that it was up to them to find him and discover what happened to him one year ago.   
  
"Then it's settled." Matt stated needlessly. "We have to find Tai, no matter what."  
  
"What should we do first?" Yolei wondered aloud.  
  
"Hey, how about we use our Digivices to track him?" Joe suggested. Izzy mused on the idea.  
  
"I don't know. The Digivices haven't reacted to anything the entire year Tai's been missing, least of all a stray Digivice. What's to say things would be any different now? Did Tai have his Digivice with him when you saw him, Matt?"  
  
"I don't know." Matt confessed. "I didn't get a long enough look to notice something like that. I was kind of knocked for a loop that my best friend had just been resurrected in front of my eyes."  
  
"Point taken." Izzy looked thoughtful for a moment, then turned to TK. "What about your D3s? I know our original Digivices seem to have been dormant since the last time we returned from the Digital World; there's certainly been no reaction from mine for months. Are your souped-up versions any different?"  
  
"Uh-uh." TK shook his fabric-covered head. "It's weird, but ever since we came back from the Digiworld a year ago I've not been able to open a portal back there. It's like they changed the locks and I don't have a key any more."  
  
"How did that affect Patamon?" Izzy mused. "It can't have been very good for him to be away from the Digital World for so long."  
  
"He didn't come back with me." TK sighed. "When I returned last time, he just didn't come through. He stayed in the Digiworld, and the Digiport closed before I could go back and get him."  
  
"Hey, that was the same with me and Hawkmon." Yolei exclaimed.  
  
"Me too with Armadillomon." Cody added. As one, the entire group turned to look expectantly at Davis.   
  
"Uh-huh" The goggle wearing youth nodded his agreement. "Veemon didn't come through either. He'd been having trouble transporting for a while, and then suddenly, 'poof', he's taking a long vacation in the Digital World without me."  
  
"Very strange." Izzy stroked his chin sagely, pondering on the problem. Just then, the musical chime of the doorbell rang dulcetly through the heavy air. Sora rose dutifully.  
  
"I'll get it, it's my apartment." She declared. Picking her way carefully through the mess of limbs and her own personal untidiness, the chestnut haired girl passed through the door of her bedroom, closing it quietly behind her. Only Davis watched her leave, his hazel eyes narrowed in curiosity. Why was she shutting the door? Was it to keep them in? Or something else? He swivelled his attention back to the conversation at hand, mentally dismissing his suspicions as paranoid. He was just a little tense, he told himself. After all, it's not every day the person you idolize turns out not to be dead like you thought, and is actually alive and in your city at that very moment!  
  
"So, no go with the Digivices." Izzy summarized. "What are our other options?"  
  
"We could phone the police." Joe offered, slightly annoyed that nobody had thought of this already. He'd reckoned without Matt.  
  
"Do you really think they'd believe us if we called them and told them our dead best friend has come back to life, and is now running around the city with supposed super-human powers that allow him to jump off buildings without going splat? Yeah, I can really see that happening, Joe."  
  
"OK, OK, I get what you mean." Joe held up his hands in a gesture of mock surrender to halt the sarcastic barrage spilling from his friend's lips. Matt sure had gotten cranky since the last time Joe had seen him. When was that anyway? It must've been a year ago, at Tai's funeral. Correction, Tai's false funeral. Joe suddenly started, shocked that he'd missed this vital question. If Tai was alive and in Tokyo, then who was in his grave? Whose body now lay beneath the headstone reading 'Tai Kamiya'? Joe's voice cracked as he broadcast his worries to the motley collection of young people surrounding him.  
  
"Hey, um, guys?" He began. "Uh, hasn't anybody wondered about - " He was cut off by the door to Sora's bedroom opening, and a tall, slim figure strolling in.  
  
Ken Ichijoji stood among the assembled group a changed person to the individual who had once worked under the title 'Digimon-Emperor'. Neither was he the shy and guilt-ridden boy who'd followed that deranged megalomaniac. Instead, the 13-year-old now possessed an almost tangible self-assurance, hued with a kindness clearly evident in his cerulean eyes. He wore a pair of faded jeans, frayed at the edges and stained in several places. This item of clothing alone was so unusual on the customarily well-groomed young man that those among the Digidestined who'd not seen him for a while were momentarily struck dumb by his mitigated appearance. He turned to them, barely concealed curiosity patent in those twin orbs of abstruse blue.  
  
"Hey guys."  
  
Matt was the first to find his tongue, closely followed by Davis.  
  
"Hey, Ken. Glad you could make it -" Matt started, but the younger boy cut him off.  
  
"What took you so long, Ken? You've missed almost everything!"  
  
Ken rolled his eyes. "Public transport. Remind me never to catch a train again so late at night. Correction, remind me never to catch a train again! I came very close to becoming two-dimensional tonight. An effective diet plan, I'll admit, but not an altogether pleasant one" His comments extracted a muted giggling from members of the sombre group, but Ken wasn't slow to pick up on their general demeanours. Eyebrows arching questioningly, he faced Matt, who - despite his best efforts not to - was fast becoming both spokesperson and ringleader of the disjointed group. "Hey, Matt, what's going on here? Why'd you call me out so late? For that matter, why is everybody else here so late? Was there a party I wasn't invited to?"  
  
Matt sighed dejectedly. "No, nothing so fun as that I'm afraid."  
  
"Too right!" Muttered Joe, annoyed that his query had been forgotten with Ken's arrival. Matt shot him a look that unmistakably said, 'keep your comments to yourself unless they're asked for, Joe', and then turned back to a slightly amused looking Ken.  
  
"What Joe means to say is that we made quite a disturbing discovery tonight, which we thought all of the Digidestined ought to be aware of."  
  
"It must be pretty bad to get that kind of a reaction from Sora." The younger boy commented idly. "She nearly knocked me over when I came in. Didn't even say sorry either - just marched off down the corridor like I wasn't even there."  
  
"What?" Matt exclaimed, aghast. "You mean, Sora's gone outside?"  
  
"Yeah." Ken seemed perplexed. "Didn't she tell you she was going? She sure seemed determined about something, I thought you guy's had had an argument, if you'll pardon me saying so." He bowed a little in apology, but Matt hardly seemed to notice the gesture.  
  
"Oh my God, she must've gone out to look for Tai!" He practically yelled. "She's all alone out there with all the psychos and perverts around. We've got to go find her!"  
  
"Yeah, before something awful happens." Cody agreed, the memory of the article he'd read on his Grandfather's newspaper resurfacing with sickening clarity in his mind.  
  
As the remaining Digidestined grabbed their coats and barrelled urgently out of Sora's apartment, Ken was swept up in their mad rush for the door.  
  
"Whoa!" He cried. "Wait a minute, what's going on? Why would Sora be out looking for Tai? Tai's dead."  
  
"We'll explain everything on the way." Mimi hurriedly extenuated. "But right now, we have to find Sora!"  
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AUTHOR'S NOTES: This was the longest chapter I've written yet, and it took me quite a long time, so what did you think? Was it worth the effort? Or should I just not have bothered? All R&R appreciated, and I love reading reviews - good and bad! - so please post some.  
I'm sorry for the delays uploading this and the next few chapters. You see, I like to keep several chapters ready and waiting just in case, but at the same time, I feel like I should be uploading more than I am. This results in me rushing things and the quality of the fic suffering, so you'll (hopefully) understand when I say that if I don't upload straight away, it's for a good reason. A temporary inconvenience makes for a better result, I say - but then, I'm kind of biased on this front. Oh well.  
  
Until next time.  
  
Scribbler ^_^;; 


	5. Chapter Five ~ Silent Angels

DISCLAIMER: OK, everybody should know the gist of what I'm about 2 say. Digimon and all its characters aren't mine, they're they official property of Toei, Saban and Bandai. Added to this, I doubt they ever will be mine as I am so indescribably poor that holes in my pockets have holes in them, and I think they're going to cost a little more than fluff and an old sweet wrapper I found in there.  
Same again with the whole 'death-threats-if-NE1-tries-2-steal-this-fic-because-it's-mine-and-I-have-copyright!" part of my blurb. Don't do it and I won't hurt you. Simple enough, isn't it?  
Many thanx 2 DC Baller, who reviewed "Forgotten Friends", I was having my doubts about that chapter but you laid them to rest. I shall have 2B careful soon, or my head won't fit out of the door NE more.  
Mandatory blurbish out of the way, here is the fifth chapter in my saga. Hope you like it. I'm not very good at writing these... ah, but that would be telling, wouldn't it. Read on, my friends, read on...  
___________________  
  
"The Darkness Within" By Scribbler  
Chapter Five ~ "Silent Angels"  
___________________  
  
"There are times when silence has the loudest voice." -- Leroy Brownlow  
___________________  
  
Sora walked quickly through the darkened streets, unsure of where she was going, but not really caring either. She'd had enough of all the arguing and discussions. With every procrastinating word spoken by her comrades Tai might be getting further away from them. Now was not the time for deliberations. Now was the time for action, before it was too late. From the split second when she saw Tai jump from the balcony Sora had sworn she wouldn't lose him again, and she intended to make good on her promise - with or without the aid of her friends.  
  
The hazel-eyed girl shivered. She wished she'd thought to bring a coat, but it had been an impulse decision to leave the apartment. With any luck, it would be a few minutes before anyone realised she was gone. By then she should have gotten far enough away to escape anybody looking for her. She knew Matt well enough to realise that he would only bring her back and keep her cooped up while they came up with a plan. Well, let them construct their plans if they wanted to, but she wasn't about to let another second pass without making some sort of effort to find Tai before it was too late. She hoped most of the Digidestined weren't too familiar with this area of Tokyo, then she could continue with her search unhindered.  
  
Turning down a dimly lit alleyway, Sora quickened her pace. She fancied she could hear voices calling her name not too far away, and was anxious to put as much distance between herself and them as possible. Her actions were not purely selfish, however. Sora had enough about her to discern that if Tai were trying to avoid detection he would stick to the less populated parts of the city - namely, the back streets. That warren of alleys and side streets that housed the ever-growing population of rodents and rotting garbage the Japanese capitol engendered. Here was where she would enact her quest.  
  
It was criminally under lit down her chosen path, and the chestnut haired teenager was forced to blindly feel her way down the narrow alley along the brick wall of a building. Both the rough surface of the stones and moist furriness of gathering moss passed beneath her fingers as she sightlessly stumbled across the shadowy waste ground, several times tripping on various items of refuse and skinning her palms and fingers. Inadvertently, she shuddered; overactive imagination creating horrible images of what she was stepping on. She continued hurriedly on her way, turning down yet another tiny alley to her right, then again to her left. Certain she could find her way back again, Sora pressed on, the thought of finding Tai and bringing him home echoing like a knell through her determined mind.  
  
After a few more blind changes in direction, Sora found herself in a dead end. A tall wire mesh fence stretched across the mouth of one dark - albeit slightly lighter than the rest - alleyway. With a sigh the slender girl turned, intending to retrace her steps and continue on in another direction, but found her way blocked by a person. A cold knot of fear manifested in the pit of her stomach as she surveyed the brawny man standing before her. He wore a ragged pair of jeans coupled with a vest and denim jacket, apparently oblivious to the cold through his flimsy attire. Sora froze where she stood. Menacingly, he took a step forward.  
  
"Hello, girly." His voice was thick with sarcasm, and Sora recoiled as a foul blast of halitosis hit her face, the unmistakable stench of alcohol evident on his breath. She didn't answer, instead taking a step backwards, away from the intimidating individual and towards the metal fence. The man - who wasn't very old, only in his late twenties at most - tutted at her. "No need to be afraid of me. I ain't gonna hurt you. Come here." Sora ignored his words, taking another step backwards. The stranger twisted his head to call mockingly into the shadows to his left. "Hey, guys, looky what I found."  
  
Sora's eyes widened as two more men, just as burly and ragged looking as the first, hove into view around the corner. One stumbled slightly against the other, dragging his feet and obviously drunk. She considered taking another step backwards, but her spine was virtually pressed up against the wire mesh as it was, and with a sickening lurch she realised that in her panic she had effectively trapped herself. Doing her best to seem unafraid in the vain hope that the trio would leave her alone, Sora straightened her stance.   
  
The first man gestured to the ensnared teenager, and one of his friends - a bald man wearing a Hawaiian shirt with bare arms - whistled appreciatively at her.   
  
"Whoo! Look what you got, Jim." He chuckled in a booming baritone unsuited to his squat frame. His accomplice agreed heartily with him.  
  
"How'd you get her to come way out here? Did you promise her candy if she was a good little girl?" He guffawed at his own joke, and Sora stiffened at the sound.  
  
"Naw. She was already here all by herself, like she was waiting for someone to come along and collect her." The first man chuckled, and every hair on Sora's body stood on end at the pleasant sound, so mutated when escaping from the man's mouth. Unlike the other two, the one known as Jim didn't sound drunk at all. By comparison, he sounded chillingly sober, every word and move calculated to evoke fear into her heart and increase the block of ice forming in her gut. Her hazel eyes sparkled with terror as Jim took another threatening step forward. There was nowhere to go, nowhere to run, and the three stalwart characters were obstructing her only escape route. Unless....  
  
Sora hastily cast a surreptitious glance at the fence behind her. It was very high, and quite flimsy, but the mesh might serve as usable hand and footholds. Having little other choice, Sora whipped around whilst the men were still at the other end of the alleyway and began to climb. There was a shout from behind her, followed by the unmistakable sound of running footsteps, and she tried her best to swarm up the steel netting, trusting to the strength borne of her years of soccer training. Her fingers were finding it difficult to get a firm grip through the holes in the closely-knit mesh, her feet even more so, but gamely she struggled up the arduous obstruction.  
  
She was nearly half way up when muscular arms grabbed her roughly from behind and yanked her slim frame astringently from its perch. With a cry, Sora fell back into their waiting embrace, her waist locked firmly in an iron grip. She struggled, arms and legs flailing wildly, and was rewarded by a muffled grunt as her foot made contact with some soft part of Hawaiian-Shirt's anatomy. He groaned, and had Sora's mouth been capable of smiling it would have been adorned with a bitter grin at that moment. As it was, her face was at present covered by a foul smelling hand, which seemed intent on cutting off her oxygen supply as much as she was intent on retaining it. Jim leaned his head onto her shoulder from behind, one arm locked around her waist, the other clamped across her visage. His action was reminiscent of Matt's loving encirclement, but Jim's intentions were much more injurious. Despite her intense endeavours to free herself, or at least cause as much damage as possible to her attackers, the intimidating man spoke softly into Sora's ear, his every word sending a fresh new shiver down her spine.  
  
"You shouldn't have done that." He whispered, breath blowing gently across her skin in a mocking parody of a lover's intimacy. With a burst of strength, Sora tore her head out from under his palm.  
  
"Go to hell!" She gasped, before spitting in his grimy face. Jim snarled, twisting Sora's arm behind her until she felt sure it would snap. Unable to contain herself any longer, Sora released a terrified scream, which echoed hollowly around the deserted alleyways, its only company Jim's taunting laughter.  
___________________  
  
Tai sat in a deserted shop doorway, head in his hands. Why had he gone back? Why had he taken the chance? Now they knew. Not everything, but enough. They knew that he was alive, and here. He should get out of Tokyo as fast as possible. Leave them all behind before they did anything stupid, like try to look for him.   
  
Yet still he sat in that abandoned and desolate place, unable to move. His id screeched at him to pick himself up, move his feet and depart, just like he'd done all the other times, but some inscrutable force kept him welded to the threshold. He stared at the cracked concrete, his mind a confused and tortured mess. Why didn't he go? He knew it was the best thing - no, the safest thing - for everyone. Was he really that selfish that he would put all their lives in danger for his own personal happiness? No, he couldn't believe that. But at the same time, he discerned that it must be true. Why else was he snivelling here like an infant, intent on getting its own way?  
  
A small child stood before him. She was about five years old; thin, with blonde hair cascading down her back like a golden waterfall. She wore a pair of dungarees, cut roughly at the bottom into shorts, and long white socks inside battered sneakers. Her summery garments were completely unsuitable against the biting chill of the Tokyo night, but she didn't seem in the slightest bit averse to the cold. In fact, she appeared completely unaware of the gelid breeze blowing her flaxen tresses about, her piercing grey eyes fixed firmly on the shivering teenager before her. At first glance the scenario seemed odd. However, upon a second look it was almost unbelievable. For you see, the edges of the child's body were hazy and indistinct, as if someone had taken an eraser and smudged her outline. But what was truly amazing was the shape of a building visible through her chest. The tiny girl was entirely translucent.  
  
She tipped her head at Tai. "Aren't you going?"  
  
Tai sniffed, then looked up at her for the first time. "You. Why can't you leave me alone, Terri?"  
  
"Because." She answered in the simple way that five-year-olds do.  
  
Tai only stared at her. One of his demons. One of the reasons he never wanted to cause any more pain to anyone ever again.  
  
"Aren't you going?" The girl repeated. "You should, you know."  
  
"I know, but...." Tai trailed off, his eyes sliding to the pavement.   
  
"You want to hurt them, don't you?" She accused in a merry, singsong voice. Tai looked aghast at the suggestion.  
  
"No! That's the last thing I want!"  
  
"You do! You do! Otherwise you would have left when you had the chance. You want to pay them back for forgetting you. For living their lives without you around!"  
  
"NO!" Tai almost shouted at the ethereal child. "I... I...." His voice became soft, his hazel eyes sorrowful. "I want to die."  
  
The girl stopped smiling, and her voice, when it brushed over her lips, was smooth. Too mature to come from a child.   
  
"Death is horrible. It's cold and dark. There's nothing there. No light. No air. Nothing." Her impassive grey eyes locked Tai's. "Why did you send me here?"  
  
"I didn't - " Tai began.  
  
"You did." She cut him off. "All we ever gave you was comfort. A home when you had none. Food when you were starving. Love when you were alone. Why did you bring me to this place."  
  
"I... I didn't mean to."   
  
"You never mean to, Tai, but you do it anyway."  
  
Tai's voice cracked as he spoke, filled with emotion at his past deeds. "Why can't I die? Why?"  
  
"Because you have to pay for your crimes, and the only way to do that is by living with what you've done." The girl's tone was harsh and unforgiving.  
  
"I'm... I'm sorry. I'm so, so sorry." Tai breathed.  
  
"Apologies won't bring me back. Sorry won't change what you did." Her stare was almost tactile on his face. Tai wanted the ground to open up and swallow him whole. He didn't care if he went to hell, if only he could stop this endless cycle of pain and loneliness. She spoke again, intonation clipped and frosty. "What was it like, Adam? What was it like feeling my blood run through your fingers? Seeing my body on the patio? Did it feel good? Did you like it?"  
  
"No!" Tai vociferated, covering his ears with his hands and shaking his head to rid himself of the empyreal child's words. "No! No! No! No! NO!" He trembled, both from the cold and the accusations slithering into his ear. "I didn't want you to die! I didn't want anyone to die!"  
  
"But you did. Admit it, Adam. You liked the feeling of power you got from taking my life. You enjoyed it." She sneered.  
  
"NO!" Tai yelled. He closed his eyes to block out her arraigning expression, but her voice seemed to echo inside his brain, prying into every nook and cranny of his mind until he felt like screaming to make her stop.  
  
Tai blinked. Somebody was screaming. Was it him? Unsure in his present state of mind as to whether he would recognise his own scream, he touched his mouth with a quivering hand. No, he was silent. So who was it? The voice sounded female, and terrified. Yet through her anxiety was a permeating familiarity. The scream came again, satiated with fear and something else... pain?   
  
Tai jerked his head up as the voice suddenly slotted into his memory.  
  
Sora! It was Sora's voice. Sora's scream.  
  
Hastily, the hazel-eyed boy scrambled to his feet. Of his demon there was no sign, but in his alacrity Tai failed to notice that she was gone. Only the sound of one girl's scream filled his head. He had to find her. Had to help her. All his own troubles were driven from his mind as that one purpose drove him forward. Into the bitter night, towards the origin of that panic-filled screech. She was nearby, but where? He followed his ears, praying that he could reach her in time to save her from whatever caused her screaming.  
  
I'm coming Sora! Don't worry, I'm coming!  
  
If anything's happened to her....  
  
I'm coming!  
___________________  
  
Sora's head snapped back as Jim slapped her across her face.  
  
"Shut up!" He growled vehemently. Sora gulped, her neck twisted so that she still faced away from him. She could hear Hawaiian-Shirt laughing.  
  
"Ha ha! Hit her again, Jim. Go on!" Jim grabbed her chin in one hand, yanking her face back to press his dirt-encrusted visage into her own. The stink of his breath invaded her nostrils, making her gag.  
  
"Shall I hit you again, girly? Shall I?" He snickered maliciously, enjoying her discomfort as she struggled to escape his grasp. "Oh, a feisty one, are you? Well, I like 'em feisty." Sora kicked his shin, hard, but he didn't even seem to notice her feeble attempts to defend herself. "That'll teach you to spit on me. I don't take no guff from nobody, you hear?" She didn't answer. "You hear?" Jim repeated, raising his voice. Terrified, Sora only nodded.  
  
Why had she gone so far away? Why hadn't she waited for the others? Sora fought back tears as Jim stroked her cheek with one filthy index finger, leaving a trail of grey dirt across her ivory skin. A shuddering sob inadvertently wracked her slender frame.  
  
"Aw, don't be so unresponsive, girly. I ain't gonna hurt you. We only want to have some fun." Jim murmured softly, tracing the shape of the teenager's mouth. Sora made to bite his hand, but he was deceptively quick, catching her neck in a vice-like grip. The frightened girl emitted a harsh choking noise as his palm pressed against her throat, cutting off her air supply. Jim only sniggered as her hazel eyes became wide from both fear and lack of oxygen. Slowly, and with deliberate fulmination, the threatening man leaned closer, mouth slightly parted. Sora could only watch helplessly as his mouth descended on hers.  
  
In the ghostly glow of the moonlight, a solitary tear slid down Sora's cheek, illuminated against her skin as a sickening symbol of her impending violation.  
___________________  
  
Tai rounded the corner of an alley and halted abruptly in his tracks. There before him, on the other side of a tall wire-mesh fence were three men, clustered around a smaller figure pressed up against a wall. One of them, a widely framed guy wearing a faded denim jacket, was leaning over this individual, apparently in the middle of a lover's embrace. As he moved his head fractionally, Tai saw with horror the face of the third person.   
  
Sora. Her eyes wide, cheeks smeared with grime and tears. Tears? But Sora didn't cry. However, one look at her petrified visage, hazel eyes filled with hopelessness and dread, was enough to manifest a core of anger in Tai's stomach. His fists clenched, his teeth gritted, and his eyes burned with hatred for her attackers. Each one of the grinning, laughing goblins sliced a gash of ire into his heart, until he felt he couldn't bear it any longer.  
  
Too late, he realised what this intense hatred would spark. He tried to turn away, to calm down, to do anything in order to halt the bubbling broth rising in his throat, but it was no use. Tai clutched powerlessly at his chest, striving to beat down what was to come, despite knowing it was inevitable. Perspiration beaded on his forehead as he was forced to his knees by the scorching agony filling his body. No! Not now! Please, anything but that!  
  
The hazel-eyed boy's silent pleas went unnoticed, though; and in the insignificant gloom of the Tokyo back streets, all hell suddenly broke loose.  
___________________  
  
Sora heard the roar before she saw what caused it. The ear-splitting noise cleaved through the night air like an approaching tornado, closely followed by the sound of rending metal. The deafening bellow came again, accompanied this time by a cry from one of the three men surrounding her. Jim jolted his head up, and Sora twisted around enough to see Hawaiian-Shirt go flying through the air behind him. There was a gut-wrenching thump of him hitting the ground, and Jim cursed fervidly under his breath. The muscular man released the Sora's throat, and the weakened teenaged simply slid down the wall she was pressed against, gasping for air like it was the elixir of life. She watched as Jim tried to run for the mouth of the alley, but was stopped as the body of his second companion slammed into him, knocking him forcibly to the waste-filled ground.  
  
A figure stood beyond them in the shadows, face half obscured by darkness. Only a pair of glowing red eyes were visible through the almost opaque blackness. Inhuman eyes. Such eyes as have permeated the tales of man for centuries concerning Hades and the land of the dead. These two gleaming orbs were fixed on the two men sprawled on the floor, the body of their comrade lying some distance away, unmoving. A nonhuman snarl split the air, punctuated by the heavy breathing of the thing.   
  
Jim's compeer scrambled to his feet and lumbered down the alley, trying vainly to make his escape. With a feral yell, the crimson-eyed creature lunged at him, tackling him to the ground with ease. Sora noted that the attacker was considerably smaller than the thug, but seemed at least ten times as strong. From where she was slumped, the girl could discern only the outline of the strange creature. It was vaguely humanoid, but moved so fast she could barely make it out. Only its eyes were truly visible, shining scarlet as it darted to and fro in the shadows. A hiss filtered from its mouth, succeeded by a strangled gurgling from its opponent as he was pinned to the floor. The creature leaned its head down from where it straddled the man's back, effectively disappearing from view in the gloom. Sora listened despite herself as a ripping sound was heard, then a noise comparable to a bucket of water being dumped over cobbles.   
  
The creature raised its head, still hissing. Small flecks of saliva showered from the darkness where it crouched. Saliva mixed with something else. Something darker, more viscous....  
  
Jim backed up, crawling, the would-be attacker now obviously as scared as his victim. He'd been on the streets and in enough fights to recognise the sound emanating from the dimness. Slowly, on his hands and knees, he edged his way down the alley, trusting that the thing was too occupied with his comrade to notice him. If he could just get to the end of the enclosed space, he could run and get away safely. He knew these streets like the back of his grubby hand, and was certain he could escape if only he could slip into the maze of alleys beyond. Quietly, he practically slithered across the garbage-covered ground, at one with the shadows.  
  
But not as one with them as the creature.  
  
The air was driven from Jim's lungs, as the very shadow he cowered in suddenly seemed to take on a life of its own. The burly man found himself picked up by some invisible force and hurled the length of the alley, back towards the fence. He landed face down in the dirt, arm twisted oddly beneath him. A resounding crack signified its breaking, and he clutched at the injured limb as he tried to scrabble back to his feet.  
  
Unsteadily he hoisted himself up, using the twisted fence as a lever. The metal was melted and red hot, causing Jim to jerk his hand away in pain. He stared at the fence, or rather, at the huge hole in it, which was composed around the edges of colliquated wire and warped grey mesh. It appeared to have been caught in the blast from some huge explosion, like a grenade or other explosive. But there was nothing like that around here.... was there?  
  
Jim turned sharply at a low growl behind him. From the abstruse gloom a pair of glowing eyelets emerged. They focused unblinkingly on the pusillanimous figure, who at that moment attempted to flee through the smouldering aperture in the fence. A tendril of shadow snaked towards him with lightning speed, wrapping itself around his gut and dragging him coercively into the folds of darkness where the creature waited. Jim struggled vainly as more and more tongues of blackness manacled his body, imprisoning him in a vice-like, but wispy, grip.   
  
Sora watched, horrified, as the man was pulled upright to stare into the red eyes of his attacker. His face was a mask of fear as he gazed into those gleaming orbs, devoid of pupils or mercy. She heard him cry out as the creature clamped its hands onto his shoulders and effortlessly lifted him up into the air. Unable to tear her hazel eyes away from the sickening scene, she observed as his mouth widened in a silent scream, and how the shadows around him seemed to gather together and flow into his gaping maw. Jim's eyeballs bulged, and his muscular body thrashed helplessly as sparks of blue electricity pulsed from him, lancing through him to fizzle pseudo-harmlessly into the air around the pair. The creature remained untouched by these inexplicable jolts of power, retaining its steely gaze without even a hint of clemency for the pain-wracked man in its grasp.  
  
The stench of scorching flesh reached Sora's nostrils; incongruously reminding her of a barbeque she'd been to when she was five years old. She'd hated the smell of charcoal and burned meat even then, and had slipped her share of the unappetizing fodder onto her mother's plate when she wasn't looking.  
  
Mother. Where are you? I'm scared.   
  
The grisly scenario finished abruptly. There was a hollow explosion, followed by the wet splat of existence hitting the walls of surrounding buildings, and suddenly the body clutched in the creature's gnarled claws had no head. The red-eyed figure let it drop unceremoniously to the floor, blood seeping across the concrete like the crimson tide of a dead ocean.  
  
Sora sat frozen with fear where she'd fallen, her mind a maelstrom of terror and random images. She'd wanted to be rid of the thug, but not like this. Not through death. Unbidden, her body started shivering, trembling muscles ignoring her orders to move and escape. Her gaze was captured completely by the rivulets of blood dripping slowly down the walls and over the stony ground towards her. So red. So unbelievably red. She'd never really considered how red blood was before, but now the fact seemed unavoidable. Sticky liquid ran freely through her mind, clouding all her thoughts with its indisputable redness.  
  
A foot appeared at the edge of her vision, and Sora finally tore her eyes away from the nauseatingly captivating colour of Jim's blood long enough to recognise it as a foot. Her gaze travelled up, trailing the limb it was attached to as the deadly creature stepped out of the darkness. Her hazel eyes widened as a mop of unruly brown hair emerged, traced through with a strip of blue fabric, now spattered with drops of scarlet. Tanned skin tight and drawn over a manic snarl, sharp white fangs jutted over the once soft lips. The lips that used to grin so winningly at Sora when she was mad. The lips that used to purse when their owner concentrated on kicking the soccer ball at his feet. The lips that used to form words of encouragement and friendship to the Digidestined when they needed it most. The lips now stained with glittering driblets of blood from their victims.  
  
"Tai?" Sora breathed incredulously. The figure faltered, as if confused by the sound of her voice, but almost immediately shook its head and continued advancing towards her.  
  
The entity once known as Tai Kamiya growled softly, each syllable menacingly savage. His crimson eyes glowed with bloodlust, fixed unremittingly on the frightened girl before him. Sora cried out.  
  
"Tai! Tai, it's me. It's Sora."  
  
The creature didn't even hesitate for a second at the sound of her voice. Sora scrambled shakily to her feet, muscles still unwilling to obey her. Back pressed against the wall, she stared at the oncoming individual with pain in her hazel eyes.   
  
It... he didn't remember her. It was as if she hadn't spoken at all, for all the good it had done.  
  
"Tai, what happened to you?" She yelled, hoping to reach him by volume alone. In answer, the creature bunched his own muscles together and sprang at her. With a gasp, she dove aside, its claws...no, his hands, narrowly missing her. Deep gauges etched into the brickwork where she'd stood, and the entity reached for Sora again with amazing quickness. She screamed as he grabbed her leg, talons where there shouldn't be talons digging into her flesh. Warm blood flowed, and Sora kicked the once-boy hard in his leering face. He fell backwards, surprised by the force of her blow. Mentally thanking her years of soccer training, Sora leapt to her feet. She stumbled slightly as the torn muscle in her calf gave way, but hobbled stubbornly on towards the alley mouth. Perhaps she could raise some help. Perhaps there was someone else around. Perhaps. Perhaps.  
  
The Tai-monster roared and chased after the hurt teenager. Sora whipped round and dodged aside as he charged her, but not before his dagger-like claws had raked her arm. Sora fell back, gasping in pain. A pile of garbage seemed to appear from nowhere behind her, and she tripped to land heavily among the rotting wastage. A dark stain began to appear through her tattered sweater, and blood dripped copiously from deep gashes in her flesh.  
  
A shadow fell across her as she struggled to escape from the odorous hindrance she now found herself in. The Tai-monster loomed over her, preparing to strike. Desperately, Sora called out to him.  
  
"Tai! Please, don't do this! Don't you recognise me?" No response save for the spittle dribbling through his needle-like teeth. "Tai! It's Sora! Please, Tai!" The creature that had once been a boy tensed his sleek muscles and launched himself in her direction. Sora covered her face with her arms, awaiting the blow that would end her life. Waiting for the bolts of blue energy to lance through her body, for the shadows to fill her mouth, choking her until finally her mind exploded. Just like Jim. Trembling, Sora waited for death at the hands of her closest friend.  
  
"Celestial Arrow!"  
  
Suddenly, the ground before the Tai-monster opened up in a blaze of pink and white light. The force of the explosion threw both him and the chestnut-haired girl back - albeit in different directions to each other. Sora slammed against the floor, in pain but miraculously still conscious. The red-eyed creature twisted in mid air with all the grace of a professional acrobat, landing on all fours upon the side of the building. Like an insect he stayed there, stuck by hands and feet like a deranged version of Spiderman. He hissed at his prey and made to spring at her again, raining death from above.   
  
He vaulted from his vantage point, but was halted before reaching his target by a massive winged figure floating before him, who caught his outstretched arms and swung him round to crash back into the wall. He struck the side of the disused building with his back, and having no purchase on the mossy brickwork, plummeted to the alley below like a stone.   
  
Sora watched him fall, her mind hazy from the amount of blood running down her leg and soaking through the remnants of fabric covering her arm. Blearily she saw the figure smash into another mountain of trash, only to leap out again, snarling at the newcomer who dared to deny him his prize. The teenage girl looked up to see what appeared to be an angel hovering above her. An angel? No, that was silly. Angels didn't really exist. But...there was something strangely familiar about this angel, like she'd seen it before, a long time ago. Weak from loss of blood, the exact time and place escaped Sora's cloudy brain, and she felt her heavy eyelids close by themselves.  
  
Sleep. That was what she needed now. So what if there was battle going on around her? All she knew was that she needed to rest. To lose herself in the comforting numbness of slumber.  
  
"Sora!"  
  
A voice. Familiar. Who...?  
  
"Sora! Hold on!"  
  
I know you... Kari?  
  
With immense effort, Sora opened her hazel eyes and twisted round to see a slender figure running full pelt towards her. Brown hair flying, sneakers thudding on the concrete, Kari Kamiya sped towards her fallen friend. She reached the older girl's side and knelt next to her.  
  
"Sora! Can you hear me?"  
  
"K... Kari?" How could Kari be here? She was supposed to be in the country with her Grandmother, not in Tokyo. It didn't make sense. Nothing made sense!  
  
Kari leaned towards the injured teenager, glancing at her torn and bloody arm. "Sora, don't go to sleep. You hear me? Don't go to sleep! Stay awake, Sora, stay awake!"  
  
Awake? That was easy for her to say. But she'd try. She was so... so tired, but she'd try. Sora forced her eyelids open just in time to see a pair of crimson eyelets streak towards them out of the gloom. Kari turned at the same time.  
  
"Angewomon!"  
  
The creature was plucked from the air as Kari's Digimon partner appeared above them, hurling him once again into the wall; and once again the seemingly indestructible entity came back for more, leaping savagely at Angewomon's throat. The Digimon knocked him away with one gloved hand.  
  
"Get it, Angewomon!" Kari called, confident her digievolved friend could deal with this strange creature without difficulty. The female angel nodded, her helmet glinting in the pallid moonlight, before descending to deal another blow to this abnormal enemy.  
  
Sora blearily contemplated what was happening. "N... no, don't." She stuttered, mouth reluctant to form the words she needed. Kari turned, eyebrows raised at this unusual request.  
  
"What?"  
  
Sora took a deep breath, hoping to dispel the mist fogging her thoughts. It didn't help, and she endeavoured to communicate her message with the utmost effort she could muster in her weakened state.  
  
"Not mon... monster." She gabbled, anxious to halt the battle before Angewomon delivered another crushing blow to her opponent, or visa-versa. "It's..it's..."  
  
"Who?" Kari demanded in her gentle yet commanding voice. Sora poured the last of her conscious though into speaking the name of the creature.  
  
"T... Tai."  
  
Kari's eyes widened, and Sora slumped back into the pile of garbage, utterly spent. The younger girl shook her elfin head disbelievingly, then spun round and screamed with all her might into the all-consuming darkness where sounds of the battle raged.  
  
"Angewomon, it's Tai! Stop! IT'S TAI!"  
  
Angewomon faltered at the raw pain in her partner's voice. She'd never heard Kari in such agony before. This small opening was all the Tai-monster needed, and he sprang forward to lock onto the Digimon's wrist with both teeth and claws. Angewomon yelled in pain, and without thinking, dislodged her attacker by smashing him bodily against the wall, then body-slamming him with her considerable bulk. The creature cried out as the last pocket of air was driven from his lungs upon impact, then yelped again as he was mercilessly crushed against the unyielding surface. When Angewomon floated away, he tumbled limply, lifelessly, like a rag-doll to the street below. A gloved hand flew to her mouth as Angewomon realised what she'd done.  
  
"TAI! NOOOO!" Kari screeched at the sight of her kin, falling to be dashed against the concrete beneath him.  
  
Sora's eyes flickered open as a streak of white dropped parallel with the body, catching it before it struck the earth, then opening her many wings and fluttering safely into the darkened alley.   
  
Angewomon gently deposited Tai's still form beside the two girls. His eyes were closed, and the fangs were no longer visible over his bottom lip. His entire face had relaxed, and once again he seemed like the boy Sora had known. Innocent and peaceful, it was hard to believe he'd been the snarling beast trying to tear her throat out only moments ago. Silently, tears began to slide unchecked down Sora's grubby cheeks, and she turned into Kari's warm embrace, sobbing as if her heart would break, not caring any more about showing her weakness. All she cared about was that still, quiet boy laid out before them, an angel quiescently kneeling over him in the dim moonlight.  
  
Kari's arms encircled her weeping friend, tears filling her own hazel eyes. Neither girl spoke a word as they rocked soundlessly in the darkness; the only witnesses to their sorrow the shadows and a silent angel.  
___________________  
  
AUTHOR'S NOTES: The chapters in this fic keep getting longer and longer. This one was even longer than the last. But was it worth it? Please review and let me know, all C&C is welcome, and I mean ALL! I wasn't sure about this one, I've never been very good at writing action sequences or fight scenes, so lemme know if it was OK, K? Once again, please be patient with me for the next instalment. I promise you, I have it, it's just being fine-tuned at the moment. I will post it as quickly as possible, think of it as a Christmas present.  
  
Remember, always recycle.  
  
Scribbler ^-^ 


	6. Chapter Six ~ Noble Deeds

DISCLAIMER: Digimon and all its affiliates do not belong to me; they are the rightful property of Toei, Saban and Bandai. I wish they were mine, and have hatched numerous plots to steal them, but somehow nothing seems to be working (!) If NE1 decides 2 hatch their own plot 4 how to nick this fic then I warn U, I'll set my hordes of flying monkeys on U! Don't say I didn't give U advanced warning on this front!  
I'm sorry this chapter has been so long in coming. I know I said to think of it as a Christmas present, so you'll just have to think of me as the absent-minded aunt who always forgets that it's Christmas and subsequently sends all gifts late. I was visiting my relatives in Liverpool during the holidays and had no access to a computer, but now I'm back and ready 2 go once more.   
Just to clarify, the working title for this chapter was originally "Tai's Dream" but I changed it at the last minute. Keep this in mind when UR reading it, as it may explain a few things.   
Obligatory blurbarooney out of the way, for your consideration, here is the sixth part of my saga. Wish you luck, and I'll see U on the other side!  
___________________  
  
"The Darkness Within" By Scribbler  
Chapter Six ~ "Noble Deeds"  
___________________  
  
"In real love you want the other person's good. In romantic love, you want the other person." -- Margaret Anderson  
___________________  
  
Matt sat cross-legged on the carpet, twisting a tissue in his hands. Across from him sat Ken and Izzy at the dining table, murmuring softly to each other, and beside them Cody, TK, and Davis stood, huddled together as if for warmth. Yet the cold they shied away from came not from the elements, but from within themselves. From the silent worry they all shared for their comrades.  
  
Matt glanced nervously at his watch. Surely there should be some news by now? They'd been locked away in there for what seemed like an eternity - at least to him.  
  
It had been almost two hours since they'd found them. It had been Davis really, with his uncanny knack of sniffing out trouble wherever it was hiding, Digital World or no. The blonde youth still remembered the younger boy's hopeful shout, followed quickly by a yell of horror. The other Digidestined quickly hurried to his side, worried that some thug had attacked him. When they reached the scene, however, they'd almost wished that were the case. That was less horrific than the actual scenario spread before them in the dark Tokyo back street.  
  
Matt recalled the tortured images, still painfully fresh in his mind. Sora and Kari, clinging to one-another, sobbing. It had jolted Matt to see both girls crying, especially Sora. Sora never cried. She'd made it a point that she never cried. "Crying is weak," he'd been told hundreds of times before, "And I, for one, am not weak." Yet there she was, face buried into Kari's shoulder, weeping as if her heart had been smashed into a thousand tiny pieces, not even attempting to cover her tears.   
  
Beyond them stood someone Matt had never expected to see in a million years. A tall, blonde woman, wearing a metal helmet. Her incredibly skimpy outfit out-of-place in the frosty alley - as were the six feathery wings sprouting from her back.  
  
Angewomon. Here, in the real world? How was that possible? How could that be?  
  
But the boy's attention had immediately been claimed by what lay at the Digimon's elegant feet. On his back, brown hair spread limply around his head and coat half open, lay the one person Matt had truly believed he would never see again before this night. The one individual he'd been certain was gone from his life forever.  
  
Tai Kamiya lay still, to all intents and purposes dead, and Matt's heart had frozen at the thought of once again losing his best friend. He barely even noticed the bodies strewn about. Until, that is, Joe's retching alerted him to their presence. Three bodies, each mutilated in some form or another. One's throat had been torn out, the other's neck was obviously broken, whilst the third...  
  
The third...  
  
The third was barely even recognisable as human. Blistered flesh still smouldering, a pool of rapidly crystallizing blood surrounded the decapitated carcass. Of the head, there was no sign, save for the blood. The seemingly interminable oceans of blood. Matt had stared at the corpse for a few priceless seconds, then turned and vomited violently into the gutter, unable to shield himself from the gaze of his comrades. Despite what they thought, it was not the sight of the maimed remains that had triggered the blonde boy's reaction. Rather, it had been the faintly glowing symbol etched into the flesh beneath its torn vest. The symbol he'd looked upon so many times, three circles, eight triangles, all assembled to emulate the sun. Unmistakable, even as the victim's blood dried around it, threads of dark liquid creating graceful patterns across a canvass of reddened skin.  
  
The crest of courage.  
  
Matt snapped sharply from his thoughts by the sound of rushing water. He jerked his head up - as did all the others gathered there - to see the bathroom door open and Kari walk shakily out, brushing yellow stains from her lips.  
  
Behind them, a small white form suddenly leapt out of the folds of the sofa and bounded across to the pale girl. Kari crouched down and scooped Gatomon into her arms without a word, nuzzling her pinched face into the feline-Digimon's soft fur. Gatomon drooped her long tail around her partner's shoulders, offering as much comfort as she could with the tactile gesture.  
  
Matt's gaze slid across to his little brother. TK stood, staring intently at the shorthaired girl before them. He'd been the most surprised of all to find Tai's sister in Tokyo, let alone with her Digimon in tow. The younger boy's eyes were questioning, yet hesitant, memories of how Kari had cut herself off from everyone evident in his pained cerulean eyes. She'd rejected them - rejected him, when all he'd wanted to do was help. Closing herself off on all fronts, until finally moving away without even a goodbye to her old companions. TK was - understandably - unwilling to repeat the experience and reopen old wounds. The fact that Kari had yet to speak a word to any of them only served to drive him further away.  
  
The door to Mrs. Takenouchi's bedroom opened fractionally, and Mimi slid out, closing it quietly behind her. Matt scrambled hastily to his feet, mangled tissue still in his hands.  
  
"Is she...?"  
  
The pink-haired teenager held a finger up to her lips. "She's gonna be OK, Matt."  
  
Matt sighed gratefully. "Can I see her?"  
  
"Well, I don't know..." Mimi trailed off, but one look at the raw emotion in her friend's blue eyes caused her resolve to waver. "Well..."  
  
"Please." Matt said simply, letting his eyes do the talking. Mimi emitted a soft sigh of her own.  
  
"Alright then. But only you, Matt, and not for long either. I know it's for a good reason, but I'm still not happy about her not going to the hospital." The slender girl pushed open the door behind her, and then moved away, allowing the grateful boy to slip past her and through the slight aperture.  
  
"Thanks." He whispered, before shutting it again.  
  
Mrs. Takenouchi's bedroom was warm and dark. The curtains were drawn, and the light off. The only illumination came from a street lamp below the window, its ghostly beams filtering through the flowery coverings to spread across the equally flowery bedspread. Matt picked his way carefully across the floor, avoiding any objects or personal belongings of the older woman that may have been concealed in the blackness, waiting for an unwary foot to pass by so they could attack it.  
  
He stopped by the bed. It was a double, making the figure curled up beneath the sheets seem small and fragile. The person's chest gently rose and fell, causing the chintzy covers to move in time with its breathing. The body faced away from Matt, towards the wall, which the bed was pressed up against. Self-consciously, Matt cleared his throat.  
  
"Sora?" He breathed tenderly. "Sora? Are you asleep?" There was no response, and Matt prepared to leave. Suddenly a thin voice piped up, muffled by the pillow it was directed into.  
  
"No."  
  
"Sora?" Matt turned back to his girlfriend. "Are you OK?" Mentally, he kicked himself. What a stupid question! He knew full well that tonight, she'd seen horrors he couldn't even begin to imagine. Things no living person should ever have to witness, whatever their crimes. Thankfully, his inane question received no answer.  
  
Matt stood uncomfortably in the stifling silence, wanting to say something, but curiously finding himself devoid of words. Silently, he wished with all his might that he possessed Davis' verbal-diarrhoea; although even the younger boy had been struck dumb by the sight in the alley, and hadn't spoken a syllable since they found him. Quiet echoed around the small space for a few minutes, punctuated only by the rustling of fabric from the teenage boy's clothes as he shifted his weight from foot to foot.  
  
Suddenly, Sora turned over, levering herself upright with her good arm. The other limb was swathed in snowy fabric and clasped to her chest by a tight bandage beneath the loose fitting pink pyjamas Yolei had found in one of her dresser draws. Matt couldn't see, but he assumed her leg was similarly dressed. It pained him to see the chestnut-haired girl in such a sorry state, and tried unsuccessfully to push her back down onto the mattress. With a strength he didn't know she still had, the hazel-eyed girl pushed him away and sat up. Matt simply stood there, unsure of what to do. Eventually, Sora's voice - weak, and filled with unspoken agony - sliced a communicative hole in the void between them.  
  
"It was horrible." She said simply. Then, without waiting for a reply, continued, volume not rising above a strained whisper. "I was looking for Tai, and then they found me. Those... those..." she stopped, drew a deep breath, then continued with her disjointed story. Matt wasn't sure who 'they' were, but from Sora's tone alone he could tell that they'd done something to her. Something she wasn't going to share with him no matter how hard he pressed her for the information. "I was so scared. I thought... and then there he was. But he was different. He wasn't Tai. It was like... he was a mask. A mask over someone - no, something else's face. He... he went after them. He killed them all. It was awful. So much blood..." Inadvertently, a shudder ran through the teenager's slim body, and her boyfriend sat down beside her, encircling her shoulders with one arm. Sora shoved him roughly away, and Matt dropped his arm, shocked at her sudden apathetic manner. He gazed worriedly at her consternated face as she went on unabated. "He came after me. He tried to... to kill me. And Kari, his own sister. He was so savage. I didn't recognise him. He was my best friend, and I didn't recognise him. What happened to him, Matt? Why did he do those things? Even when we were in the Digiworld, he... he never took a life like that. He always wanted to save lives, not destroy them. Not like that. There was so much blood. So much..."  
  
Matt didn't know what to say. There wasn't much he could say. He felt helpless and somehow alone; like when he'd been forced to watch as Puppetmon captured TK in the Digital World five years ago. Matt hadn't been able to do anything then, either. He'd only watched as the evil Digimon dragged the then eight-year-old off into the forest, away from him. Matt hated being helpless, yet he forever seemed to end up in that situation. Never able to aid those he cared about, or just getting in their way. Useless. A burden. Now it appeared he was doing the same to Sora. Smothering her when she was trying to tell him what happened.  
  
Two glistening hazel eyes turned and stared into his own. "I want to see him." was all she said.  
  
"Sora... that's not a good idea. Joe says - "  
  
"I don't care what Joe says!" Sora burst out. "I want to see him!" She clutched at the flowery sheets around her, trembling both with emotion and weakness from the loss of blood she'd sustained. Matt gazed deeply into those twin orbs, burning with fire and independence. God, he loved her. He didn't want to see her hurting this way.  
  
The youth sighed, dropping his head onto his chest. "Alright." He promised reluctantly. "When Joe says that he can - "  
  
"No! I want to see him now."  
  
Resignedly, Matt nodded.  
___________________  
  
Tai lay in his bedroom, sprawled across his bunk. Music blared out of the stereo on the unit next to him, and he half expected his mother to come in and yell at him to turn it down. She was always doing that, invading his privacy. They all were. He never got any peace in this place.  
  
Curiously, Mrs. Kamiya didn't put in an appearance, and the speakers screeched as the song came to an abrupt end. There was a whirring as the CD finished, followed by that not-quite-silence that always accompanies the death of a compact disc when the volume is up too high. Sighing, Tai turned over - eyes still closed - and reached out to hit the play button again. He didn't recognise the tunes, but who cared? It was an escape, and that was all he asked from it. He fumbled for a second, searching blindly for the control panel.  
  
Suddenly his hand struck something soft. Tai brushed his fingers over it, wondering at the malleable texture. It was strange, warm, and almost... furry. Furry? What was something furry doing where his CD player should be? He shoved at it, and his fingertips sank into wetness. He recoiled, finally opening his hazel eyes and bringing his hand in front of his face to inspect the sticky substance that now coated them.   
  
Tai emitted harsh choking noises as red liquid dripped from his index finger onto the white bed sheets. He sat up and banged his head on the bottom of the bunk above him. Cursing under his breath, he rubbed his scalp with his clean hand. But his scalp was moist, and the teenager lowered his arm to reveal a palm covered in blood. Tai yelled, whipping round to jump off his bed, but gagging at what he saw. Stretched across the electronic device was a small hairy body, eyes wide open and mouth leaking scarlet fluid. Miko the cat stared blankly at the horrified boy, who sprinted across the room and wrenched open the door, intending to call his mother, father, anybody, to come see what had happened. To explain to him how a dead animal could suddenly appear without his knowing, belly slashed open and entrails dripping copiously over his bedside table.  
  
However, when he opened the door, Tai didn't find what he expected. Instead of looking into the rest of the apartment he shared with his family, he stared straight into what appeared to be a whirlpool suspended in space. Total blackness surrounded the spinning vortex, which seemed to be made up of a maelstrom of colours rather than actual water, but was twirling so fast that it was hard to make out just exactly what fabricated it.  
  
Tai cried out as he found himself picked up and dragged bodily towards the violently eddying mass. He grabbed the doorframe with both hands, clinging on with all his might as the strange swirling force buffeted about his legs. What was going on? What was that thing?  
  
"Tai! Help!"  
  
Kari?  
  
"Help me, Tai!"  
  
"Kari!"   
  
Tai twisted his head around and squinted into the cyclone of colour. Grains of dust blew into his eyes, making them water and causing him to cough spasmodically. The cry came again, and he forced his hazel eyes open, staring hard into the maelstrom.  
  
There! There she was! Tumbling about like a puppet without strings, Tai's little sister danced in the wind without breath. Her mouth open, screaming for her brother with all the air in her small lungs.   
  
"Kari!" Tai yelled. He yelped as the doorframe clutched in his fingers suddenly dissolved, and he was sent flying into the whirlpool to join his frightened sibling. Reaching out as far as he could stretch, Tai called her name. "Kari! Grab my hand!"  
  
But she didn't. In fact, the young girl seemed completely unaware of his presence, despite his being so close to her. Tears streamed down her cheeks as objects flew at her from all sides, catching and cutting her on impact. The older boy yelled vicariously for her pain, as unidentifiable shapes sliced at her flesh, then spun around in mid-air and came back to stab her again. Kari bled from a hundred different places; the red juice being swept up in airless wind and lost among the spinning eddies. All the time she screamed for him, each vociferation filled with a new generation of pain and torment. Tai couldn't bear it any longer. He was her brother; he was supposed to protect her!  
  
"KARIIIIII!" He shouted, closing his hazel eyes and squeezing all the oxygen contained in his thin chest into one, powerful yell. Kari's own eyes snapped open, and she swivelled her head to look at him, happiness and relief etched into her pretty features.  
  
"Tai!" She called with a mixture of gratefulness and compelling joy. Tai smiled despite their situation, and struggled to stretch his hand out enough to reach her as he spun past. Kari did likewise, and as the boy was carried in a circle, their fingertips nearly touched one-another. Just a little bit more. Just a fraction of a centimetre further, and he would have her hand. Tai stretched until his muscles screamed, every tendon protesting profusely as they were pulled to their utmost limit.  
  
A dark shape darted out of the gloom. Like a giant needle, it sped towards the helpless pair and in the blink of an eye had speared Kari in her stomach. There was a wet ripping noise as it exited through her back, and she doubled over in pain, clutching her open wound. Tai's eyes widened in shock.  
  
"KARI! NOOOOOOOO!"   
  
Something exploded inside of him, and before he knew what was happening, the shadows around the whirlpool took on a life of their own, streaking towards the grief-stricken boy to gather as a pitch sphere in his still-outstretched hand. He stared at the ball of darkness hovering just above his palm, until the swirling vortex around him abruptly dissipated, and he dropped like a stone to an invisible ground below.   
  
Tai made impact with a thud, rolling over and over until he came to a stop, lying on his back, several metres from where he'd landed. A sickening slap - like that of uncooked meat hitting concrete - sounded as his sister followed suit behind him. Tai scrabbled to his feet and bounded to her side, picking her broken body up off the floor to cradle lovingly in his arms. The younger girl's sweet face was bloodstained and pale. Unmoving and death-like. Tai brushed a stray lock of brown hair from her visage, whilst gently shaking her.  
  
"Kari. Kari, wake up. Wake up, Kari."  
  
But Kari didn't wake up. Kari would never wake up again. Tears welled up in Tai's hazel eyes at the sight of her silent, drawn face, so peaceful yet so agonizingly pained. He rocked her gently back and forth, not caring if the thing that had killed her came back to claim him as its second victim. He was supposed to protect her. She didn't deserve to die like this. Not here, in this cold, dark void. Not when she'd always exuded such warmth. Such love. Such... light.  
  
Tears dripped down Tai's face, mingling with the blood and dirt on Kari's as they continued their sad journey down her ivory cheek.  
  
"Crying is weak." An emotionless voice rang from the surrounding shadows. Tai's head jerked up, recognising it.  
  
Sora Takenouchi stepped forward, trance-like. She walked towards the pair of siblings with a sober, womanly step, not faltering at the tragic tableau laid out before her. Tai watched her advance. Something was wrong - seriously wrong. Sora's left arm hung limp and useless by her side, the sweater sleeve around it shredded and bloody. Added to this, she walked with a pronounced limp, one leg dripping crimson liquid behind her.  
  
"Sora? What... what happened? What is this place?"  
  
Sora didn't answer. Her hazel eyes were blank and cold. Another voice sounded from Tai's left - equally frosty.  
  
"You happened, Tai."  
  
Matt Ishida hobbled forward, and Tai saw in horror that his right foot was no more than a bloody stump, leaving dark wet marks on the transparent floor. The blonde youth stared at his friend through one piercing blue eye - the other closed; latticed by elegant red scratches.  
  
"Matt? What do you mean, 'I happened'? What's going on?"  
  
"You know perfectly well what's going on, Tai." Joe's nasal tone crawled from the blackness, followed closely his battered and bleeding body. Beside him, leaning on the taller boy for support, was Cody. The small child's brown hair had been completely burned away, and his blistered skull smoked slightly, sending ethereal wisps into the air that wasn't really there.  
  
One by one, the other Digidestined detached themselves from the shadows, each of them injured or disfigured in some new, sickening way. Tai stared around at their faces, so hard and unemotional, all gazing at him. Tentatively, he hugged Kari's rapidly stiffening body closer, as if fearful they would try to take her away. Davis stepped forward. A huge gash was carved into his cheek, and the goggles atop his sooty head were smashed and splintered. Shards of glass glittered in his brown hair as he looked down impassively at the older boy. From his apathetic expression, it was hard to tell that he'd ever even liked the figure before him - much less idolized him!  
  
"Why'd you do it, Tai?"  
  
"Do what?" Tai cried desperately.  
  
"What did we do wrong? Tell me, Tai. Tell all of us."  
  
"Tell you what?" Tai asked, voice filled with despair.   
  
Ten pairs of eyes stared impassively at the cowering youth, and ten pairs of lips began chanting.  
  
"Tell us. Tell us. Tell us."   
  
"What?" Tai yelled. "What am I supposed to have done to you all?"  
  
A new voice filtered through the mantra. High and childlike, it cut a path among the canticles spoken by the remaining chosen children like a verbal Moses beside the Red Sea.  
  
"Don't you remember, Adam? You killed them."  
  
Tai's gaze dropped to the bundle clasped in his arms, hazel eyes meeting steely grey. Locks of soft golden hair brushed Tai's tanned fingertips as the five-year-old girl stirred slightly in the hollow where Kari should have been. But Kari was gone. Vanished without a trace. He recoiled; dropping the child like it was a white-hot coal.  
  
"Y... you!"  
  
"You killed us all, Adam. They remember. Why don't you?" She repeated as she picked herself up off the floor. Standing, she was no more than a head higher than Tai's crouching form, yet her facial expression was mature. Wise. Too old for her youthful body.  
  
"Terri?" Tai queried, trembling. "N... no. You're dead. You can't be here."  
  
"So are they." The blonde child gestured to the surrounding teenagers, all glowering at their one-time leader. "You murdered them, Adam."  
  
"No!" Tai yelled. "I didn't! I wouldn't!"  
  
"You did." Affirmed a familiar voice. Tai raised his tear-filled eyes to stare deeply into a pair of hazel orbs. Hate was etched into Sora's beautiful face. Hate directed at him. Her hard gaze struck the brown-haired boy like a physical blow, wounding him with the anger and loathing buried in her stare. He gaped at her, open mouthed.  
  
"Sora?"  
  
"Don't you remember the alley, Tai? How you murdered me?"  
  
"Sora, I... I..."  
  
She turned away, abhorrence clearly recognisable in her dulcet tone. "I hate you, Tai Kamiya. I hate you for all the pain and suffering you've caused me. I hope you burn in hell!"  
  
Tai gasped. He'd never heard the chestnut-haired girl sound so vehement, so bitter. Had he done this? His mind was cloudy, but he remembered running. Running down a back street, then coming round a corner to see...  
  
Tai suddenly clutched at his head, tearing at his unruly hair and sobbing. He'd lost control again. That was the only explanation. And Sora had been there, easy prey for him to ... to...  
  
He felt sick. Bile bubbled in his gullet, and he swallowed hard through his tears to stop himself from vomiting at the thought of what he must have done.  
  
"I'm sorry. I'm so, so sorry." He gulped. Sora walked away from him, away into the all-consuming darkness. Tai's head bolted upright at her departure. "Sora, wait.... Please!"  
  
"Adam." The blonde child was standing next to him, slender hand on his shoulder. Tai brushed her away, confused at what was happening.  
  
"Why do I do these things?" He yelled at her. "Why?"  
  
"Because." She answered simply. "And you're going to do it again, too."  
  
"No!" Tai spat. "Never again. I'd rather die first!"  
  
"But," the little girl said softly, grey eyes serious. "You can't die, remember."  
  
Tai's eyes widened. "No!" He breathed. Then louder; "No! No! No! No! NO!"  
  
"The time is drawing nearer." A new, throaty voice abruptly boomed from the shadows, wrapping itself around Tai's brain and permeating the nooks and crevices of his mind with it's sound. Tai didn't recognise it, but all the same, it filled him with dread so intense he thought his heart would explode within his chest if it uttered another word. His tears fell faster, both from physical pain and mental agony.  
  
"No." He whispered. "Please, no."  
  
"It is inevitable." The voice continued. "Do not fight it. It is your destiny to be the vessel."  
  
"But I...I don't..." Tai mouthed, confused at his half remembered recollections. Vessel? Him? What was that strange voice talking about, and who was it anyway?  
  
"Who are you?" He called into the gloom. Abruptly the entire scene around him dissipated into a flurry of shattered colour. The faces of his friends splintered and scattered, doomed to fly on the non-existent breeze of this dead world until the end of infinity. Tai crouched into a tiny ball and cried quietly to himself - totally alone in that void of inexplicable darkness. He raised his head at a sound, and watched as a figure emerged deliberately from the gulf of blackness in front of him. His hazel eyes widened.  
  
"But... it can't be..." He murmured incredulously.   
  
"You're almost ready." The figure stated. Tai only stared. He was rooted to the spot, frozen like a statue. Helpless. Alone.  
  
He remained this way as the figure slowly brought one hand up to its chest, and then cupped the other one beside it, making a small hollow between the two palms. Gracefully, a tongue of shadow appeared there, wrapping itself like a snake around the stranger's fingers, gliding in and out almost languidly. Tai's mouth fell open of its own accord - or so it seemed. But as he attempted to close it, his maw remained ajar. Dust settled upon his tongue, and the hazel-eyed boy longed to cough the offending particles out of his throat. But he couldn't. Even inadvertent reactions that constituted his humanity had been terminated. He was no longer in control of his own body.  
  
The flicker of darkness swelled in the stranger's almost caring grasp. It swirled, a murky mass of shadow and soot. Suddenly, as if its own master, it leapt from the stranger's possession and hurtled towards the incapacitated teenager. As it sped towards him, a pitch spear of pure darkness, Tai identified it as the murderous object that had attacked Kari. But also, it was reminiscent of something else... something from a long time ago, when he was very young... before the terror began.   
  
Inexplicable hate flared in his gut as it ploughed into his open mouth and down his yielding throat. Like acid, the shadow-creature spread throughout his body, corroding organs from within. Tai's eyes widened, unable to even cry out in agony at the torture he endured. His thin chest burned with unspoken affliction, and his heart heaved within his breast. Finally, the throbbing organ relinquished its fight to pulse, and with a horrible shuddering, ceased to beat. Tai's muscles became lax, and he fell forward, blood leaking plenteously from his parted lips.   
  
The figure standing before the collapsed teenager laughed, voice artificial and echoing in the nothingness. It laughed at Tai's pain. At his feeble attempts to rise from his own scarlet mess. The same mess that constitutes all humans, now spreading across the floor like a sticky red carpet. Yet at the same time the individual cried. Tears streaming down its cheeks like an unchecked waterfall. It laughed and wept in equal measure, guffawing loudly, yet sobbing even louder.  
  
Tai's vision became hazy. His chest was an open wound, and he could feel crimson fluid slinking down his chin. Yet he didn't die. He wished with all his might that it could be so, but he remained where he was. Alive. And in pain.  
  
His tattered mind was a maze of jumbled pieces. Questions and images flew around inside his confused brain, giving him no peace as he longed for the comforting numbness of death. Why was this happening? Who was the figure that laughed at him, but also cried for him? What had he done in that alleyway? What happened to Sora?  
  
Why? Who? What? Sora?  
  
Who? What? Sora?  
  
What? Sora?  
  
Sora?  
___________________  
  
Kari sat on the couch, facing away from the other Digidestined into the darkened sitting-room area of the Takenouchi apartment. Despite the presence of the others behind her, Kari retained an aura of loneliness. Her slender hand trailed absently over the beige cushion next to her, ruffling the tassels on one corner. She wore her customary fingerless gloves, although they were dirty, and torn in several places. Her brown hair also appeared unkempt, as if it hadn't been brushed for several days, and traces of soot were clearly visible among the mousy tresses.   
  
She sighed, and Gatomon stared up at her. From her position on the girl's lap, the cat Digimon nuzzled her partner in a rare show of affection. Kari was upset, and through their near-psychic link by the Digivices, this reflected into the small feline so that she in turn felt agitated. Kari didn't even acknowledge the gesture, so lost was she in her own thoughts. The teenager stared at nothing in particular, hazel eyes fixed and unmoving. Was it really only a few hours ago she'd been at her Grandmother's house? It seemed like an eternity between that safe, secure haven with the geriatric woman, and this confusing and dangerous world she now found herself in. Tokyo would never be the same for her.   
  
Subconsciously, she wiped at her mouth, the taste of bile still distinct on her tongue. She'd cleaned her teeth with a spare toothbrush Mimi gave her, but Kari was disinclined to believe that the caustic flavour would ever be removed. Just like her memories of the alley. Those shining eyes, the feral scream, and then the body - falling. Tumbling from the sky like a fallen angel... or demon...  
  
T.K. watched the reticent girl through concerned blue eyes. He stood a little way behind the couch, and she was - as yet - unaware of his presence. The blonde boy stared at her slender back. She seemed so lonely. His comrades were engaged in a whispered discussion around the kitchenette table, and hadn't even noticed his absence from their deliberations. None of them, that is, except one....  
  
T.K. observed Kari in a disconcerted manner. Beneath his calm exterior, a wealth of conflicting emotions fought for supremacy. At that moment he wanted nothing more than to put his arms around the sequestrated figure sitting there, to hug her, kiss her hair and tell her that everything would be all right. His arms yearned to encircle her fragile form, and his heart ached to speak comforting words into her shell-like ear.  
  
Yet he didn't act on these impulses. Instead, he simply watched her. This was the girl who had left without a word. Walked out of his life without even saying goodbye. Now she waltzed back into it, expecting good-old T.K. to just come running when she snapped her fingers.  
  
No, she didn't, a sensible voice in the back of his mind stated. She never asked for your help. She never asked for anything from you.  
  
She abandoned you, the disquiet tongue reminded. She cut your heart into pieces and mailed it back from her new house.  
  
T.K. was confused. Despite all that she'd done, his soul still craved after Kari. That sweet and innocent girl whom he'd been through so much with. He remembered that time, so long ago now, when he'd journeyed to the Dark Ocean in order to save her. He recalled the words he'd said to her face that very day in the schoolyard. They'd slipped out unannounced, uncalled for - but he'd uttered them anyway.  
  
"Kari, I care too much about you to let you go without a fight!"  
  
But now...? Was he still willing to fight for her? Still willing to put his soul on the line, just to see her smile again? He hated the empty look that now resided in her soulful hazel eyes - devoid of the spark that used to dance there. Yet still, his heart retained the wounds inflicted upon it when she deserted him a year ago. He'd never really been the sentimental type, but her unusual actions had left him with no other alternative but to assume that she no longer cared for him. No longer felt for him what he felt for her. He'd been cast aside, and felt hurt. Rejected. Unloved. So much so that he'd pulled away from the friends that remained in Tokyo, avoiding each and every one of them, even his own brother. All reminded him too much of the winsome girl who'd stolen his heart, then trampled it beneath her delicate feet.  
  
But you still care about her, the sensible voice propounded.  
  
No, you don't, vociferated the disquiet one.  
  
You cared for her then, and you care for her now.  
  
You hate her. She hurt you, and she'll do it again if you let her.  
  
She needs your comfort.  
  
She'll use you.  
  
Go to her.  
  
Stay away.  
  
T.K.'s mind whirled, but his tranquil expression didn't falter. Over the past year he'd learned how to hide his emotions from the outside world - especially his mother. That woman seemed to have a nose for misery, and to dissuade her concern, her son had become an adept of false smiles and cheery words.   
  
Kari shuddered at some inner thought of her own. T.K. watched her, almost apathetically, but inside... inside his heart was breaking. Kari gave a short, unintentional whimper, not intended to be heard by anyone else. But the blonde boy behind her heard it, and it practically tore his heart in two.  
  
Without really realising what he was doing, or the implications his actions would cause, T.K. slid around the side of the couch and sank into the seat beside his old companion. Kari looked up at his arrival, but the expression in her hazel eyes didn't waver. She simply noted him with the same detached, removed manner that had permeated her movements since she came to the capitol.  
  
"Hey." T.K. murmured. Mentally he berated himself. What a stupid greeting. A whole year apart, and all he could come up with was 'hey'?  
  
"Hi." Kari replied, not looking at him. There was silence for a moment, punctuated only by the muffled whispers of their friends at the table. T.K. felt uncomfortable. He was used to long silences, but usually he was the one who initiated them. The blue-eyed youth wasn't accustomed to being lost for words when in the company of another. He glanced across at Kari. She didn't seem in the least bit perturbed at the quiescence surrounding them. Rather, she seemed at home in it. He looked down at his feet, searching for something - anything to say.  
  
Surreptitiously, Kari stole a glimpse of the boy sitting next to her. T.K. hadn't changed much - at least not physically. He still wore the same fishing hat she's seen him in a year ago, intractable blonde hair sticking out haphazardly from underneath it. Beneath his insubordinate bangs, azure eyes stared almost impassively at the floor. She wondered what he was thinking about.  
  
Gatomon gazed up at her partner, to find the hazel-eyed girl looking directly at her old companion, who seemed oblivious to her penetrating stare. Human emotions had always confused the little Digimon. It was obvious to her that these two had so much to say to each other, yet neither initiated conversation. Something had created a barrier between them, a wall they were unwilling to breach from either side. The white cat sighed and shook her furry head. As always, it was up to the Digimon to fix things.  
  
With a small 'mew', Gatomon leapt from Kari's lap across to T.K.'s, landing heavily on his knee. Feigning a stumble, she slid down his leg and dug her claws into the fabric there for support. T.K. registered her effort with a grunt, leaning over to lift her back up onto the seat beside him. She thanked him with a curt nod, and then launched herself to balance above his head on the back of the couch. The Digimon swivelled her head round and fired off one last comment before bounding across the kitchen to where the others were still deep in discussion.  
  
"Of course, I didn't really need your help. I AM a cat-Digimon, you know - the most graceful Digimon there is. You just make an incredibly good scratching post is all."  
  
T.K. watched her go with faint amusement. "Same old Gatomon." He stated softly.  
  
Kari's head jerked up from where she'd been staring at her fingernails, having self-consciously transferred her gaze thus when Gatomon jumped.  
  
"Wha- Oh, yeah. Sorry about that. I'm sure she didn't mean it."  
  
"I'm sure she did, but it doesn't bother me." T.K. replied, happy to hear her voice, even if it was just to apologise for her Digimon's behaviour. Swallowing, he ventured a tentative question. "Uh, Kari. What's Gatomon doing here anyway?"  
  
"What do you mean?" Kari sounded confused.  
  
"Well, when the rest of us came back from the Digiworld last time, our Digimon didn't return to the Real World with us, and we haven't been able to open a portal to get them back since. I just wondered why Gatomon wasn't affected." That was good. He'd managed to say all that without stuttering, or losing his train of thought.  
  
Kari's eyes had yet to meet his gaze, but she answered nonetheless, staring at some point just above his head.   
  
"She wasn't affected because we never went back to the Digiworld. Gatomon's been in the Real World ever since I moved in with my Grandma. She thinks Gatomon's just a regular housecat that I like to dress up. Her eyesight was never the best."  
  
T.K. made a half-attempt at a chuckle, but it died in his throat. Why wouldn't she look at him? Did she really not care anymore? Did he really mean so little that he didn't even merit a passing glance?  
  
Kari's resolve nearly wavered at the sound of his voice. No! She wouldn't look down. She wouldn't meet his eyes. Those transfixing blue eyes. Eyes that used to send such a thrill through her whenever she looked into them. But he probably hated her now. Hated her for leaving without a word. For abandoning him. Kari knew that if she met his eyes she would crumble, and then he would hate her even more for being weak. At least this way she could retain some of her dignity.  
  
T.K. cleared his throat. The silence was creeping back into place between them, and as it did he decided to take the plunge. He had to know. HAD to. If she hated him, then at least he would have an answer, instead of this tepid, insufficient gnawing at his gut whenever her name was mentioned. He took one breath for strength, let it out, and spoke - slowly and evenly. Trying not to crack.  
  
"Kari. What are you doing here in Tokyo? Why did you come back?"  
  
Curiously, the brown haired girl didn't seem surprised at his question. Rather, it appeared she'd been waiting for one of her old comrades to ask it. It had only been a matter of time, she reasoned, before one of them plucked up enough courage to broach the subject with her; she just wished it hadn't been T.K.  
  
Plucked up the courage...  
  
Courage.  
  
Tai...  
  
"We came back," Kari began, careful to use the plural so that he didn't think it was her own weakness which had drawn her back to her old home, "because the Powers of Light summoned us."  
  
"Powers of Light?" Now it was T.K.'s turn to sound confused. "You mean, the same powers that spoke through you when we were battling Puppetmon? The forces that showed us why we became Digidestined, five years ago?"  
  
"The same." Kari affirmed. "They spoke to me again. Told me - I mean us! - Told us that something was coming, and that we had to be in Tokyo when it did. Azulongmon's power was still working inside my Digivice, so Gatomon digievolved and carried me here. Much faster then driving - safer too, if my Grandma's behind the wheel." Kari winced inside. She'd slipped - horribly. He was sure to have noticed.  
  
T.K.'s heart sank. So it wasn't because of him. It wasn't to see him that she'd returned; it was because she'd been ordered to. Probably, Kari never would have come back if the Powers of Light hadn't forced her to do it. But still... something nagged at the back of the blonde boy's mind. He needed to hear her say it - that she didn't care about him anymore. It would be painful, yes, but it would flush out all of these remaining emotions clogging him up inside. All these old feelings he still harboured for her....  
  
"Kari..."  
  
Her gaze didn't waver. Wouldn't waver. She wouldn't let her weakness show.  
  
"Yes, T.K.?"  
  
A pause. Then finally, unable to contain himself any longer, the blue-eyed boy let everything out in a rush of words, not caring if he were coherent, only wishing to release all his bottled-up emotions at last.  
  
"Kari, why did you leave? And without saying goodbye? Did I do something wrong? Do you really hate me so much that you didn't get in touch, or leave a forward address? Tell me, Kari. I need to know. I have to know. Do you hate me?"  
  
Kari's mouth opened slightly in shock. Hate him? How could she hate him? How could he even think she would feel that way about him? Rather, she was worried he hated her for what she'd done to him.  
  
"I... I don't hate you, T.K."  
  
The blonde youth blinked. Didn't hate him? But then...  
  
"Then, why?" His tone was questioning, but his voice was edged with barely concealed joy and... could it be...affection? Kari tried to keep her eyes riveted to the spot above his head, but they wandered down, despite her efforts. Her gaze lowered, inch by painful inch, until finally, hazel locked with blue. The two teenagers stared into each other's eyes for a second, and then the walls came crashing down. Kari's hazel orbs welled with tears, and she bent her head, ashamed of her failing.  
  
But T.K. didn't abhor her emotional breakdown. Nor did he ignore her, and walk away, as she believed he must do. Instead, Kari felt warm arms surround her, and she crumpled helplessly into his comforting embrace.  
  
"Shhh." He whispered soothingly, rubbing her back and resting his chin on the crown of her head. Kari gulped copiously, juddering sobs wracking her slender frame.  
  
"I'm sorry, T.K. I never meant to cause you so much pain. It's just... when my family died, I felt so guilty. Like I should've been there, should've done something. I couldn't bear feeling that way, so I closed myself off from everyone. I didn't want anyone around in case something happened and... and I wouldn't be able to help them either." She sucked in a lungful of air, tears dripping off the end of her small nose and onto the blonde boy's shirt, wetting the green fabric. He didn't seem to mind, though, hugging her tighter as all her pent-up feelings came pouring out. It was as if Kari had built a dam against the flow of emotions pervading her mind over the past year, and now someone had opened the floodgates and allowed all the water to cascade away.   
  
T.K. patted her shoulder, murmuring comforting noises to the distraught girl in his arms. As he breathed in, the sweet scent of her hair invaded his nostrils. He inhaled the smell, drinking it as if it was water and he was stranded in the Sahara. God, he's missed that smell. He'd missed holding her like this. He'd missed everything about her. This innocent, caring girl sobbing silently against his chest.  
  
Kari hiccupped, continuing with her torrent of words.   
  
"Over time, I started to feel... numb. Like I couldn't feel anything anymore. I couldn't love, I couldn't hate, I couldn't forgive myself, or the criminal who'd done that to my family...all I had was this...this numbness, eating away at me from inside. I felt like I was losing my humanity. Like part of me was dying along with my parents and...and..." She couldn't continue for a second, too choked with emotion to carry on. T.K. waited patiently, allowing her time to compose herself before speaking again. "I needed to learn how to live again; and for that, I needed time. My memories of that period are hazy, but I can remember my councillor saying that I needed rest to recuperate. Then all I know is that I was at my Grandma's house in the country, with Gatomon. I'm sorry, T.K. I don't remember not saying goodbye. I'm so, so sorry. When you didn't contact me, I... I thought that you didn't want to know me anymore. I thought that you didn't want to associate with somebody as weak as me. I didn't realise you didn't know where I was. It's my fault. I'm sorry."  
  
T.K. rubbed her spine with one hand, supporting her weight with his other arm. He whispered into her ear, as he'd longed to do, shushing her and soothing her juddering body with his gentle tone. "Shhh, it's all right. It's O.K., Kari."  
  
The shuddering sobs became fewer, as if with the liberation of her feelings the tide of emotion Kari had been riding was dissipating. Tears still trickled down her ivory cheeks, but her breathing was becoming slower, more even. Yet she didn't move from the blonde boy's arms. In fact, she seemed rather reluctant to relinquish his warm embrace at all.   
  
The brown-haired girl spoke again, her euphonious voice scarcely above a whisper. "I missed you, T.K. I missed you so much it hurt. Every time I looked at your picture I wanted to cry. I hated not seeing you, but I thought you despised me."  
  
"I missed you too, Kari." T.K. replied, also whispering. "And I want you to know that I never hated you. I never did, and I never will. You mean too much for me to simply let you go through something like this alone. I'll always be there to help you, and I never ever want you to forget that. OK?"   
  
Kari lifted her head. He didn't hate her? She mattered to him? Her heart swelled within her chest at these caring words.  
  
"OK."  
  
They sat together in silence, no more words needing to be said. Those two individuals, reunited at last into a bond that would never again be broken, nor weathered by time. Two people meant for each other, separated by fate, but reunited by destiny on that couch in an insignificant apartment in the heart of Tokyo that night. Kari leaned her head down, nestling against T.K.'s thin chest. They didn't need to declare what they felt for each other, for each already knew what was contained within the other's heart. Silently, they sat, content in the knowledge that despite everything, they'd found each other again - both in body, and in spirit.  
___________________  
  
A figure watched the happy duo quietly from behind. He stood where T.K. had resided not a few minutes ago, looking at them... together.  
  
Davis sighed, a small sad sigh. Even after all this time, Kari had still chosen T.K. Still picked him over the goggle-wearing boy. Davis didn't resent their love. Even he could see from their expressions that they were truly happy. She was happy.   
  
He loved her too. True, he'd proclaimed his feelings in such a manner as deserved retribution, but the sentiment had been real enough. Yet it had always been those two. Kari and T.K. Everyone had seen it, including him. They were meant for each other - fate, he supposed. Some inexorable force, which had drawn them back together even over the chasm that had stood between them for a year.   
  
She looked so content in his arms. It seemed... right, somehow. Like the final piece of a puzzle had just slotted into place. Unfortunately, the Davis shaped piece was left over. Spare. Unattached to anything, or anyone. God, he cared for her. Maybe it wasn't real love, but it was as close as he'd ever come in his ultimately short life on Earth. He cared so much for her that he wanted her to be happy, no matter what. Even if that meant that she would be happiest with T.K.   
  
Silently, and displaying a nobility that wouldn't have been present in him before the events of the past year, Davis Motomiya turned away from the scene laid out before him, and walked away. His heart cracked a little more with every step he took, but his resolve remained strong. Kari was content; therefore, vicariously he was too. And that, really, was all he needed in the world.  
  
Wasn't it?  
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AUTHOR'S NOTES: I was a bit iffy about this chapter. I know it doesn't really progress the story much, but I felt that there were a few things that needed to be tied up, and it was just too bloody long if I tacked the next instalment on the end!   
I'm not very good at Takari, so review and let me know what U think. Should I just stop the whole thing right now? Or would you like to know what happens next. There are more chapters if NE body's interested. (Just as a bit of random information, I've nearly finished Chapter Seven, and it currently reads as 20 pages (!) and still going.) Please review, all C&C welcome, and let others know so I can get their input too. Thanx.  
Also, B4 I go, I have another piece of work - totally unrelated to Digimon btw - which I was considering posting. It's a comedy script I had 2 write 4 my Theatre Studies exam in the summer, and I was just wondering if NE1 would read it if I did post it. Let me know, and I'll provide according 2 demands.  
  
Ta very much.  
  
Beware of falling cows.  
  
Scribbler ^_^* (That may seem a random comment, but actually there's a story behind it. If people want to know what it is then let me know and I'll tell you on the next chapter.) 


	7. Chapter Seven ~ Inner Demons

DISCLAIMER & AUTHOR'S NOTES: Oh ho hum, here we go again. Yep, U guessed it, Digimon doesn't belong 2 me. It is the official property of Saban, Bandai and Toei. I am very poor after Christmas raided my pockets and piggy bank alike; so there is absolutely no point whatsoever in suing me as I have nothing. Zip. Nichts. All out. Broke. Bankrupt. Poverty stricken... You get the picture.  
However, this terminal lack of cash has allowed me to come up with many horrible fates for any plagiarizers stupid enough to try and nick dis fic. I read a lot a fanfiction, so believe me, if U do, I'll find you (& I shall not be a happy bunny!)  
I've decided to include some author's notes at the beginning of this chapter to explain the random comment I stuck at the end of "Noble Deeds". This is a true story I read in the newspaper over Christmas, and it goes a little something like this; a lifeboat was called out to rescue the crew of a fishing boat, which had mysteriously capsized in the middle of the ocean. When they arrived at the scene, the rescuers found four survivors floating there. Their boat was nowhere to be seen. It was a lovely day with no hint of a storm in the sky, and no submarines or any other military vessels nearby which could have sunk the little craft. But when they asked the captain of the fishermen what happened, all he did was point up into the clear sky and say "beware of falling cows." It turned out that a small plane had taken off from a nearby airport earlier that day, and en route 2 its destination realised that it had not refuelled before take off. With only a meagre supply left, they decided to dump their cargo into the sea in order to make themselves lighter and so get more mileage out of their remaining fuel so that they could return home safely. Unfortunately they were carrying a planeload of cows to be sold at a market when they got to their destination. Just as these were deployed, the plane passed over a little boat out in the ocean, and a distinctly bovine missile fell on it, sinking it and rendering its crew in the drink.   
So now you know. I'm not crazy, just a little weird. And before I say anything weirder, I give you the seventh part of my fanfic.  
Oh, and when U go out.... Remember to take a really big umbrella, OK?  
___________________  
  
"The Darkness Within" By Scribbler  
Chapter Seven ~ "Inner Demons"  
___________________  
  
"Your world is a living expression of how you are using and have used your mind." -- Earl Nightingale  
___________________  
  
Sora sat perched on the edge of a wooden chair in her bedroom. Matt had dragged it in from the kitchen for her, leaving scuffmarks on the linoleum, but right now the last thing on Sora's mind was the state of the floor in her apartment. She shivered slightly. The pale pink pyjamas covering her body were aesthetically pleasing, but offered little resistance against the cold. Not that her bedroom was exceptionally freezing, but an oppressive chill hung in the air. Outside a distant roll of thunder could be heard, but nobody really took any notice of it. The bleak sky had been threatening rain for a few hours now.  
  
The auburn haired girl's gaze was fixed on one thing. Tai Kamiya lay in her bed - seemingly asleep, but she couldn't be sure after the battering his body had received. At any other time she would have laughed at the thought of Tai sleeping in a bed of rose-coloured pillows and frilly sheets, but now the idea was too much of a painful reality to merit even a chuckle. The boy was still, unmoving. If it were not for the fractional rise and fall of his chest now and again, Sora would have thought him dead. His brown hair fanned out around his head like a fawn mane spread across the pink pillowslip. His face was peaceful, his lips soft, betraying no hint of the wickedly sharp teeth that had once indented them.  
  
Joe and Yolei sure did a good job cleaning him up, Sora thought idly, Joe's going to make one fine doctor someday.   
  
It was true; the marks of the battle with Angewomon were practically invisible. Tai looked like he'd never even been in a fight at all, it was almost... unnatural. Sora sighed, but then again, nothing seemed natural or normal anymore. It had never been part of her nature before to be irresponsible, but when Joe suggested calling the police for the bodies in the alley...well; she just couldn't stay there. She couldn't bear to wait for their arrival. For the questions she couldn't answer. So they'd run. The corpses were still there for the authorities, but the Digidestined were not. It was difficult to believe that only this morning she'd been worrying about trivial, everyday matters like schoolwork, or her mother's constant fussing...   
  
Her mother. Sora wondered what Mrs. Takenouchi would say if she knew who now rested in her daughter's bed. The older woman had never been of a strong disposition, so the shock of finding Tai here may have been enough to cause another breakdown.  
  
The hazel-eyed teenager winced at this word. It had been six years, but memories of her mother's illness were still raw. The gaunt face, the incessant mutterings to herself, all seemed like they had only occurred yesterday. Sora doubted they would ever truly leave her. Her own personal demons. Every day she worried about her mother having a relapse, looking for the telltale signs in everything she did. The way she buttered her toast in the mornings, the way she walked, the way she watered her beloved plants. Perhaps this was the reason Sora didn't always share her feelings with her mother. She was too scared about initiating a second hell. For both the older woman and herself. She couldn't get through it again. Couldn't survive it a second time. The only reason she'd come out of the last occasion in one peace was because of Tai.  
  
Tai...  
  
Sora remembered how he'd been there for her, a shoulder to cry on in her time of need. He'd always listened when she felt overwhelmed by the intense responsibilities her mother's breakdown coupled with her father's absence had heaped on her. Letting her pour out her troubles, whether down a phone-line or to his face. She'd been so grateful to him for his attentive ear and comforting words. A true friend. The phrase had never been so well used.  
  
Now it was Sora's turn to be a true friend. Time for her to repay what he'd done for her by helping him through his time of need. If it was the last thing she did, the chestnut-haired girl swore that she'd find out what happened to Tai one year ago, and what was happening now.  
  
The room was ultimately silent, save for the gentle breathing of the two teenagers. Tai looks so peaceful, Sora mused. Oh, Tai. What happened to you that you felt you couldn't come to us for help? Couldn't come to me with your problems? We were always so close. What changed?  
  
If she expected answers, then none were forthcoming. Sora's hazel eyes began to slide lazily around the room, coming to rest on a wide purple and yellow-striped plastic bag atop her dresser. A khaki sleeve poked out of it, and a smiling yellow face was visible through the space in the handle. Sora rose from her seat, anxious to sidetrack herself from the maelstrom of thoughts and feelings whirling through her brain. She'd asked to be alone, but now found that she longed for the company of another. Someone to share her worries with, to talk to. Matt had offered to stay with her, but she'd declined his offer. Really, the only person she wanted to speak to was Tai...  
  
Carefully - unwilling to break the silence surrounding her - Sora removed the T-Shirt from its plastic prison and held it at arms length. She studied it critically. It was all right, as far as clothes went, she supposed, but somehow it lacked the appeal of several of her garments. Her old yellow top, for instance - the one she'd worn throughout all her time in the Digiworld five years ago. It had been comforting to have something that reminded her of home on her person all the time. An island of sanity in an ocean of chaos, as it was. The corners of the teenager's mouth twitched as she recalled how angry she'd been upon returning home from soccer practise not long after Apocalymon's defeat to find that her mother had thrown it away. True, it had been abraded and smelly, but at the same time, it had been her last reminder of a world she thought she'd never see again. Of friends she believed she'd seen for the last time. Of Biyomon...  
  
The teenage girl replaced the vestment in the bag, not bothering to consider her mother's choices. No doubt they were either pink, or frilly, or worse - both! She shuddered inwardly at the thought of her wardrobe - already straining with hundreds of 'feminine' items - being asked to accommodate more. If it were alive, it'd probably go on strike, Sora decided silently.  
  
The 'Hello Kitty' clock on her wall ticked incessantly, the sound seeming much louder as she noticed it in the quiet room. The chestnut haired girl half-considered removing the batteries from it, but dismissed this idea as the clock was too far up the wall for her to reach. It had been a gift from her father on one of his many trips. 'Yet another peace offering', her mother had called it. Sora had only been seven years old at the time, so the significance of this comment had been lost on her. She'd only seen a pretty clock where her mother had seen the results of a guilty conscience. Now that she was older, however, Sora could understand the existence of the bitterness in Mrs. Takenouchi's voice. The hazel-eyed girl missed him too when he was away.  
  
A faint patter started on the glass doors leading onto Sora's balcony. It was raining. Sora shivered, crossing the room to make sure that the doors were shut and locked securely. Touching their smooth surface reminded her of the events there only a few hours ago. Tai had looked so scared. Fear - such an alien emotion to see etched into his usually strong face. It had disturbed Sora to see him that way. Unchecked, raw terror so clearly evident in his hazel eyes. Those eyes... His eyes....  
  
Something stirred in Sora's chest. A strange feeling, unlike anything she had felt before. It seemed to emanate from an erstwhile-unused part of her heart. A part that had been frozen for a very long time. Ever since...  
  
Sora whirled around at a noise behind her. In the soft light cast by her bedside lamp, the figure in the bed twitched, and then moved. A soft groan escaped his lips as he tested his bruised muscles. Sora held her breath as the two eyelids haltingly slid open, blinking in the light the eyes beneath were suddenly faced with. Tai's gaze slowly focused, and he stared blankly up at the ceiling. Sora saw with relief that the irises were hazel, not red. She let out the lungful of air that was beginning to burn her chest. At this sound the brown haired head upon the pillow turned to look at her. Sora watched this movement nervously, wondering what to expect. He was so quiet. So deathly silent.  
  
Tai's eyes widened, until the melting hazel centres were dwarfed by the stark whiteness around them. His mouth formed only one whispered word, but the dismay in his voice was so fierce that it speared Sora's heart with its near corporeal vehemence.  
  
"No!" Tai's body flung itself upright, and he struggled to disentangle himself from the lacy sheets like a rabbit caught in a snare. "No! No! No!" He said hoarsely, vocal chords not yet strong enough to create the shout he obviously wanted to unleash.  
  
Sora flew to his bedside. "Tai, what's wrong? Don't you remember me? It's Sora. It's me, Sora Takenouchi. You're at my apartment."  
  
"I know!" He whimpered cryptically, still attempting to extricate his body from the resistant bedclothes. Sora's brow knitted, and she reached out to catch one flailing arm.  
  
"If you know it's me then why are you so frightened? What are you afraid of, Tai?" She held him with such force that he was coerced into stillness. The brown haired boy simply stared at her, his face a mask of consternation.  
  
"You mustn't keep me here. It's too dangerous." He murmured, voice cracking slightly.  
  
"What's too dangerous?" Sora asked, her own tone barely above a whisper.  
  
"Me. You. Everything. Please," His hazel eyes were pleading. "Let me go. I've got to get away from here before it's too late."  
  
Sora simply gazed at him, disbelief written across her features. She released his arm, but drew back her own and did something she'd never done before in her life. She slapped him. Tai's head twisted sideways from the force of her blow, the palm of her slender hand producing a red mark on his tanned cheek. Sora's eyes flashed, embers of anger smouldering in her gaze as she spoke with the same angry vehemence she had used when addressing the other Digidestined hours earlier.  
  
"Don't you dare!" She positively growled. "Do you have any idea what I've been through to get you back here now, Tai? I thought you were dead, DEAD! And you let me think it. You disappeared for an entire year without a word, and then reappear as if you've been resurrected, only to say that you have to leave again, without explaining where you've been or why you left! You can't DO that, Tai. You just can't. I won't let you leave me again!"  
  
Her breathing was harsh as she fought back tears. No, she wouldn't cry! She had to be strong, to make him comprehend what she was saying. He couldn't just leave. She'd missed him so much it hurt, but the pain of losing him again would be too great. Why didn't he appreciate that? What was it that had him running from his own friends? From her?  
  
Tai's face was still turned away from her, hazel eyes hidden behind black eyelashes curled onto his bronzed cheeks. He spoke softly, voice tinged with a hopelessness that made Sora's heart splinter in sympathy.  
  
"You don't understand." He whispered mournfully.  
  
Sora reached out with her good arm again, this time without violent intentions. Gently, she cupped his cheek and pulled his head back to face her. His skin felt soft beneath her fingertips, warm and real. This served to make her tenacity even stronger concerning his departure. She didn't want to never be able to touch his tanned skin again, never to feel the faint pulse of blood through his veins below her fingers. Hazel met hazel, and for a brief moment in time they locked, unblinkingly staring into the depths of the other's.  
  
"Then make me." Sora stated simply.  
  
Silence reigned in the small room. Even the 'Hello Kitty' clock's ticking seemed faint and far away to the pair as they gazed unremittingly at each other. Two people, separated for so long by physical distance, now divided by an intangible barrier. Sora made no move to remove her hand from his face, enjoying the sensation of her skin touching his for the first time in almost a year. It made him seem...more real, somehow. Like he wasn't a mirage her confused mind had created, but instead a teenage boy she'd known and grown up with, returned to her by some strange twist of fate's fickle hand. Likewise, Tai didn't attempt to break free of the contact. He only gazed into her serious hazel orbs, drunk on the near-liquidity of her eyes. Quietly, his tone dead and flat, Tai broke the silence.  
  
"I'm going to kill you."  
  
"What?" Sora's eyes widened incredulously.   
  
"I'm going to kill all of you." The brown haired boy reiterated lifelessly.   
  
"Why?" Sora choked out, surprised at his words despite what she'd seen in the alley.   
  
Tai's expression became cheerless and sorrowful. He dropped his gaze, bending his head slightly so that he wouldn't have to look at the girl before him.  
  
"I don't know." A large tear rolled down his cheek, followed by another. Sora gaped as Tai suddenly collapsed against her, sobbing. She wasn't sure how to react. This kind of emotional display was unheard of from Tai. It...it just wasn't something he did. Tai was strong. Tai was fearless. Tai didn't weep like a bereft child onto your shoulder. But he was. Huge gulping gasps wracked his thin body, and tears copiously dripped onto her pyjamas. Hesitantly, Sora raised her unbandaged arm and tenderly patted the boy on his back. It had no effect on his sobs, but she drew solace from the action, and rubbed his spine in a gesture of comfort.  
  
What had happened to reduce Tai - the cogent leader of the Digidestined team - to a quivering mess in this way? Sora murmured soothing words to him as he leaned against her on the bed. She drew her knees up to a kneeling position so as to be more comfortable under their combined weight.   
  
"Shhh, it's all right. It's OK, I'm here. There's nothing to worry about, you're safe, Tai."  
  
"But you're not." He gulped haltingly into the fabric of her nightclothes. "Not as long as I'm around." The sobs were fading, coming in fits and starts as opposed to the consistent weeping which had juddered his body only moments ago. Yet still he trembled. Sora rested her cheek against his hair, feeling the wiry tresses brush over her ivory skin as he quaked. His voice came again, strained and taunt through his tears.  
  
"I've seen it happen so many times already. You all died, even you, Sora. I felt your blood running through my fingers, but I couldn't stop killing you. It wouldn't let me stop. That's how I know that if I stay you're going to die. I don't want to see you die. I don't want anybody to die by my hand."  
  
"They won't. We won't." Sora declared.  
  
"How can you be certain I won't kill you?"  
  
"How can you be certain you will?"  
  
Silence. He had no answer - at least, none that he could communicate in words and make this girl understand. How could she comprehend what a monster he was? How could she possibly know how much pain and suffering he'd already caused in this world?  
  
"I just don't want to see you get hurt." He repeated softly, lips trembling as they formed the words. He lifted his head from Sora's shoulder, cheeks streaked with his still-wet tears. "You...you all mean so much to me, I...I don't want you to become involved in all of this. It's too dangerous. I mean it, Sora!" He added at the rebellious expression that had crossed her face as he said these words.  
  
Sora stroked his tanned cheek again. Even with all his obviously damaging problems, the old Tai was still coming through. Concerned for others despite his own troubles. A warm knot manifested just above the hazel-eyed girl's stomach. A delicious sensation, pervading her very being as she stared deeply into those pained hazel eyes. What was this unusual feeling? She'd never felt it before, and couldn't recognise what it was. It began to spread through her like a drug, dampening her senses with its warmth.  
  
Tai gazed into the hazel eyes of the girl before him. She really had no idea what she was messing with. Knelt here in her bedroom, sheltering a demon like him. Yes...a demon. That was really the only way to describe him. He'd been called worse in the past, but demon seemed to pretty much sum it up.  
  
Yet he couldn't break his stare away. Somehow, his aching muscles wouldn't obey him when he ordered them to move. To get up, climb out of this bed, and leave this place and its inhabitants before something happened which he would regret until the end of his days. All his senses seemed to shut down as he looked into Sora's eyes, drowning in their gentle seriousness. There was nobody and nothing else in the world at that moment. Only a pair of fathomless hazel eyes, gazing comfortingly into his. Tai began to drift on a sea of contentment...  
  
Suddenly, without warning, the door to Sora's bedroom opened and a figure walked in.  
  
"Hey, Sora. I just - " Matt began, but stopped at the scene before him. Sora was knelt on the bed next to Tai - who was awake at last, and sitting up - her one good arm cupping his cheek in a gesture of affection and comfort. The pair had been gazing at each other, their faces nearly touching, but jumped apart upon his entrance, and Matt couldn't help but feel that he had just walked in on something rather important.  
  
"Uh," He grunted, still clutching the steaming mug of coffee he'd brought for Sora in his hands. It was scalding hot, and he had to keep readjusting his grip as he searched for something to say. Sora guessed at his intentions, scrambling off the bed and relieving him of the beverage before he spilled it. The blonde boy turned his attention to Tai, a thousand questions whirling in his head, but none on his tongue.  
  
"Hello, Tai." He finally managed, inwardly kicking himself for his inarticulacy. Tai seemed confused.  
  
"Matt, what are you doing here?" Mentally, Tai was also berating himself. He'd slipped, badly. Another few seconds, and who knows what might have happened? A repeat of the alley, or worse. Tai suddenly realised that he had no idea what had happened in that darkened side street. Yet another portion of his life blanked out; but what was new? Matt's husky voice snapped him abruptly from his thoughts.  
  
"We're all here. All the Digidestined team, both old and new. You didn't think we'd pass up an opportunity of seeing you again, did you?" The blue-eyed teenager attempted to make light of the situation, but his only response was the widening of Tai's eyes in alarm.  
  
"What, everybody's here? That's terrible!"  
  
"It is?" Sora repeated.  
  
"I have to leave, right now!" Tai began to clamber out of the bed. "I can't stay. Not with so many innocents here."  
  
"Leave? Innocents?" Matt was bemused. "What are you talking about, Tai?"  
  
Tai opened his mouth to answer - at the same time noting that Sora was crossing the room to try and force him back into the bed - when suddenly something caught his eye. Behind Matt, in the doorway to the small space stood a short, petite, and all-to-familiar figure. Blonde hair cascaded down her back, and her arms were folded across her chest as two steely grey eyes watched him unrelentingly. As always, a non-existent breeze ruffled her golden tresses, blowing a few stray locks across her pallid face. Neither Matt nor Sora seemed aware of the presence of the translucent little girl, nor did the other Digidestined outside the room, despite the fact that she was blatantly standing in the aperture between the two areas. She stared at Tai, her gaze never wavering. Accusing. Wordlessly warning him of what would happen if he allowed himself to remain with these people. Reminding him.   
  
All of a sudden, everything became too much for Tai. The sight of his own inner demon in this place where he had once been so happy stabbed his heart like a knife. His already fragile mind snapped, shattered by guilt and regret into a thousand tiny pieces, which spun like brittle leaves on a vicious Autumn wind.  
  
Much to Sora and Matt's surprise, a foreign expression suddenly crossed their friend's face. One of pure, unadulterated horror, so raw that they could almost feel it themselves just by looking at his visage. Tai abruptly grabbed his head with his hands and screamed. A long, pain-filled scream. Such a scream as will never be forgotten by those who heard it, and would cause inadvertent shudders whenever brought to mind.  
  
Sora rushed forward, closely followed by Matt. She shook Tai by his shoulders, begging him to cease his wretched screaming. But the stricken boy either ignored her pleas, or couldn't hear her. He screwed his eyes shut, every breath a fresh, grief-filled scream. It tore Sora's heart in two to hear him so distressed, and she felt helpless, so utterly helpless, to do anything about it.  
  
Faces appeared at the door. Worried faces that had rushed to the scene upon hearing that terrible, terrible scream.  
  
"What happened?" Joe demanded, hastening forward. "What did you do to him?"  
  
"Nothing!" Matt protested, voice tinged with guilt. What had they done? What HAD they done? "We didn't do anything!"  
  
"Well you must have done something." Yolei reasoned. "People don't scream like that for no reason."  
  
Joe crouched beside the bed, where Tai knelt, head clutched desperately in his hands, horrific noises still escaping his guilt-ridden lips. "Tai. Tai, it's Joe. Joe Kido. Can you hear me?" His only answer was another scream.  
  
Kari darted past the others. "Tai! Tai!" She yelled, but TK caught her elbow. She turned to stare into his solemn blue eyes, her own filled with unshed tears.  
  
"Stay here." The blonde boy said softly. "Let Joe work."  
  
"But...but..." Kari stuttered, stealing a second glance at her brother, who was now rocking back and forth among the bedclothes. He hadn't even acknowledged her call, and was ignoring Joe's words too. Nothing, it seemed, could pierce the fog of screams enshrouding the hazel-eyed teenager.  
  
Cody watched her through unfathomable green eyes. Kari, the soul of the Digidestined, so helpless - and aware of her own powerlessness - that it cut through his soul to see her. He transferred his gaze to the figure on the bed. Screams filled his ears. Screams that would follow him into eternity and beyond. Cody's hands clenched into fists. He felt...angry. Angry with himself, at his bad luck for causing this to happen to Tai. Angry with fate, for cursing him with this Midas touch. Angry that he didn't know what was hurting his friend. Just...angry. And guilty. The brown haired boy screwed his eyes shut to prevent tears of frustration from leaking down his face. The backs of his eyes burned, but somehow, this little amount of pain felt justified in the face of what Tai was obviously suffering. Through everything, Cody's guilt hinged on the fact that he couldn't right things because he didn't know what had happened to Tai. He didn't KNOW, and it cut him up inside that this was so.  
  
Izzy noticed the little boy hanging back behind his comrades, who were crowding around the open door. Extricating himself from this worried mass, he knelt beside the smaller child, whose eyes were firmly closed. Izzy laid a concerned hand on Cody's shoulder.  
  
"Cody?" At once, green eyes flew open, and Izzy very nearly recoiled at the culpability and rage imbedded there. Cody's eyes shone with uncried tears, and he glared at the older boy, wallowing in his own sea of choler and iniquity.  
  
"It's not fair!" He spat passionately. "It's just not fair! This is my fault!"  
  
Izzy was confused. He'd never heard Cody sound so vehement - or emotional for that matter. The small boy was usually so calm and collected, the voice of reason for the Digidestined team. To see him this way affected the technophile in a way he had not thought possible. He felt...almost brotherly. The need to protect this little boy who blamed himself for what was happening emerged inside him, a completely foreign emotion to the teenager.  
  
"Cody, this isn't your fault." He soothed.  
  
"Yes, it is!" Cody retorted furiously. "It's always my fault! Always!"  
  
"What?" Izzy felt perplexed. What was Cody talking about? How could this situation possibly have been his fault? Did he know something he wasn't telling? Cody's hoarse voice sliced through his musings like a dagger.  
  
"First it was my Dad, then Mr. Oikawa, now Tai. Everyone who knows me always ends up getting hurt."  
  
"That's not true." Izzy protested. "Look at me, I know you and I'm not hurt, am I?"  
  
"Not physically, but don't you hurt inside when you think about what's happening to Tai?" Izzy had to admit that he did. "It's always the same. I can never care about anyone without harming them somehow."  
  
Izzy grasped Cody's shoulders with both hands, spinning the boy round to face him. "Cody, this is NOT your fault. You can't blame yourself. Bad things happen, that's the way the world works. If they didn't, then how would we recognise the good things?"  
  
"But - " Cody began. Izzy cut him off.  
  
"No buts. My parents died when I was really small, but if I took the same view as you then I could blame myself for what happened to them."  
  
"But you were only a baby." Cody said. He - like all the new Digidestined - was familiar with the story of Izzy's adoption. "How could you have been responsible when you couldn't even talk yet? That's ridiculous."  
  
"So is what you're saying." Izzy shot back. "Cody, this isn't happening because of you. It's much bigger than either you or me. You have to understand that. You're not accountable."  
  
Cody just stared into the sage eyes of his comrade. What he was saying made sense, but still...  
  
Izzy's dark eyes distended slightly, as suddenly the small boy before him fell forward, embracing the teenager in a weeping hug. Unsure of how to react, Izzy just let him sob onto his shirt, releasing years of guilt and blame in a flood of rarely seen tears. Cody shuddered profusely, clutching at the older boy for support.  
  
"I just...just feel so...helpless. I wish I could stop all this from happening, but I don't even know what's going on. I don't know, Izzy. I DON'T KNOW!"  
  
Izzy raised his arms and patted the sobbing child on his trembling back as his mother had done for him when he was small. The pain in Cody's voice struck a chord with the young genius. The agony of not knowing something was something Izzy could relate to, having been through it for years after discovering by accident about his adoption. For so long he'd wondered what had happened to his biological parents, brewing feelings of guilt and feebleness within his soul until he though he would burst from the sheer intensity of them. He wished now that he could help Cody with what he was feeling. Aid him somehow against his problems. This desire burned within him as he held the juddering child in his arms; he wished he could provide Cody - and everyone - with the knowledge that they sought. He wished...  
  
Suddenly, a light seemed to explode from within Izzy's chest. Cody's head jerked up as he fell backwards, and all the other Digidestined whirled around. The strange - almost ethereal - green light bathed the teenager with its eerie phosphoresce.   
  
"Wha- what's going on?" Davis demanded.   
  
"Izzy!" Cody called desperately. It was happening again. Despite all that Izzy had said, he was being hurt. The little boy stared at his friend from where he sat on the floor.  
  
But Izzy didn't appear to be in pain. In fact, he was smiling. Gently, he reached out one hand, gesturing that Cody should take it.  
  
"Come on. I can't do this alone." He murmured. Inexplicably, his voice - though only a whisper - seemed louder than even Tai's screams, resonating inside everyone's ears like a knell.   
  
Suddenly Mimi cried out. "Look! His chest!" The youngsters all gazed at where she pointed. There, glowing brightly through Izzy's shirt was a curious mark. Like two circles linked by a horizontal straight line, it illuminated his entire being as it shone through his very skin.   
  
"The crest of Knowledge." TK breathed incredulously.   
  
Comprehension dawned in Cody's green eyes, as he finally understood what Izzy was asking him to do. He rose to his feet, silently taking the proffered hand. At once an odd - not altogether unpleasant - sensation spread through him. He may not have been the original holder of the crest, but his own power merged with the older boy's, illuminating the entire room with their combined light. The two parts of Knowledge united the power given them when they became Digidestined, sending it out from their bodies to encompass those of their friends as well.  
  
With a faint whooshing, this green power entered the bedroom, filling it completely. It filtered into the minds of all those there, giving them what they all wanted to know. Taking them back with it, to a time when all began. Explaining everything through memory itself. Tai rocked back and forth on the bed, whimpering softly as he was quietened by the soft illumination around him.   
  
Back they went. Into the very mind of their comrade. Back, back, and further back still. Back to the start. To see. To find out. To finally know.   
  
And so it began. The witnessing of something even those originally involved should never have seen....  
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AUTHOR'S NOTES: Yes it's me again. So what did you think? No good? R&R please, I need some input. The next chapter is a doozy, so I HAVE 2 be absolutely sure B4 I post it, OK? It took me an entire week 2 write, and is kind of the hinge on which the whole fic swings, so I MUST know whether people even want 2 know what happens next. (BTW; I've never watched Earthworm Jim, but I hear it's a good - if weird - show.)  
  
Thanx.  
  
Remember, amateurs built the ark - professionals built the Titanic.  
  
Scribbler ;-D 


	8. Chapter Eight ~ Shattered Moments (Part ...

DISCLAIMER & AUTHOR'S NOTES: Digimon is the official property of Saban, Toei and Bandai. I make no financial gain from this fic, and am ultimately v.v.v.v.v.v.v.v.v.v.v.v.v. poor, so there would be little gain 2B had in suing me. Better to save your money and sue somebody worth it if you really want a legal battle.  
If I catch even one person passing my work off as their own I will set the pack of rabid dogs I got 4 Christmas on them! This is an entirely original piece; so I expect everyone else to leave it alone and come up with his or her own stuff (!)  
Legal blurb done with, here is the largest chunk of my fic to date. When I disappeared over Christmas, this is what I was doing - put it this way, imagine a teenage girl hunched over a notepad scribbling furiously whilst nearby several family members coo about trivial jabber and you'll see me. I've worked really hard on this, so be gentle please, but DO let me know what you think, and whether or not you want me to post the next instalment. It's a race against time now as I have mock exams coming up and would like to have posted the whole thing before they start, but I'll discontinue the whole thing if that's what people would prefer.  
This instalment features a sequence from 'Digimon: The Movie' so it's probably a good idea to have seen it, but not absolutely imperative.  
Remember the three R's - Review, review, and review!   
Danke.  
___________________  
  
"The Darkness Within" By Scribbler  
Chapter Eight ~ "Shattered Moments (Part One)"  
___________________  
  
"The now, the here, through which all future plunges to the past." - James Joyce   
___________________  
  
The sky swelled, colours playing across the surface of the curved object literally bulging from the clouds. As Tokyo watched, the giant shape slowly emerged from what could only be described as a rip in the very fabric of space. Swirling hues shifting wildly in the moonlight, gradually accumulating along a narrow fissure appearing in the phenomenon's side. White light filtered from this rapidly increasing crack, growing brighter and brighter, until finally the exterior shattered in a flash of blinding brilliance.  
  
The digi-egg had hatched.  
  
A large green bird floated effortlessly down, past the tallest skyscrapers in Japan, to glide along the highway before circling round and up, up into the air. It revelled in the power of its wings, at the same time flexing and stretching its newly formed arm muscles with glee. Its massive beak opened, releasing a hacking caw of pure delight, which smashed the glass of windows nearby with its sheer force. The winged behemoth's pale blue eyes danced at this destruction, relishing the ease with which it destroyed the flimsy things.  
  
Suddenly, three identical balls of fire flew toward the monster. It blew past, the trio of glowing spheres barely even touching its feathery tail, instead smashing into a nearby building and sending several floors up in flames. The massive creature beat its oversized wings, turning in mid-air and alighting on the concrete surface of the Tokyo highway. Its emotionless eyes stared down the tarmac river at a small orange dinosaur standing beneath a bridge, which stretched over the road. This was the one who had dared to attack? Well, he would pay dearly for his insolence.  
  
Halfway between these two monsters, a little boy stood. He watched them through wide hazel eyes, not quite believing what he was seeing. His unruly brown hair waved frantically in the breeze created by the bird-creature's wings, as did the flimsy pyjamas he was clothed in. A pair of goggles were slung round his neck, and these too swayed in the wind billowing past him. Another ball of fire flew at the green giant, again missing its target completely and blowing up a similar bridge further down the highway. The little boy turned towards the source of this attack, mouth opening as he did so.  
  
"Koromon? Kari!" he called, running towards where the dinosaur-creature stood hunched over the form of a little girl - no more than a toddler. She was facing away from the green bird, pummelling the dinosaur's chest with her tiny fists, her voice high and scared as she desperately yelled at the orange lizard.  
  
"Koromon, please don't fight!"  
  
The little boy reached them, grabbing the girl's shoulders and spinning her round to face him. He was a few years older than her, and by his discourse it was obvious that they were connected in some way. His voice was strained, fear clearly evident below the surface, but beaten down by his strong will not to show weakness.  
  
"Kari!" He shouted over the noise of the battle. "Come on, we gotta go!"  
  
But Kari simply threw off her brother, turning back to the dinosaur and renewing her insignificant beating and yelling at him. The little boy fell back in shock at her actions - was she mad? She was going to get them both killed! Uselessly he tried again to dissuade her, but she shrugged him off once more.  
  
Above their heads, the dinosaur unleashed yet another fireball from the depths of his cavernous throat. This time it hit its goal directly, dissipating as it struck the bird-creature's wide head. Despite the palpable power of this assault, the larger monster remained unaffected, hideous laughter permeating the smoke surrounding its gigantic body.  
  
"Now it's my turn!" It cackled maliciously, blue electricity crackling between the two outsized red feathers protruding from its skull. "Sonic Destroyer!"  
  
The little boy turned a split-second before the attack struck, watching helplessly as a surge of blue energy rushed towards them. Tai Kamiya crouched over his little sister, protecting her the only way he knew how. He waited for the blue power to hit them, incinerating the hapless trio as easily as a boy at school burned up ants with his magnifying glass.  
  
However, it seemed that whatever these two monsters were, it wasn't accurate. The bolt of blue smashed into the bridge above, reigning down debris and dust in equal measure. The small dinosaur stood over the frightened children, shielding them from the brunt of the falling objects with his considerably larger form. Kari screamed, terrified, and Tai clutched onto her to prevent her from doing what all kids do when panicked - running away. Grit and dirt got into his mouth and lungs, causing him to cough and retch despite himself. His grip on the toddler weakened as violent coughs wracked his small body. This momentary lapse was all Kari needed, and the terrified child broke free from her brother's embrace and began streaking away as fast as her short legs could take her. Tai scrambled to his bare feet, calling desperately after her.  
  
"Kari, no! Stop! Wait, you'll be killed!"  
  
But the scared little girl didn't heed his words. Rather, she ran faster at the sound of them, her young mind a fuddled mess at what was happening around her. Tai stumbled after her, the ground abnormally hot against his nude soles. He dashed after his sister among the shattered, angular slabs of concrete rising up around them, out into plain view of the bird-creature, protecting her the only thought in his mind.  
  
Above them, in the gaping void left by the bird-monster's egg, a presence began to emerge. An entity, so old it defied the laws of time and space, curious about this new world it now found on the other end of its portal. Liquid blackness oozed from the rip, as the very essences of the Powers of Darkness surveyed what was to become their new domain. Yes, this place was ripe for picking. Unprotected and filled with everything needed for Darkness to fester and grow, it presented the perfect opportunity for germination.  
  
But wait! Something caught the attention of this evil entity, and with neither eyes nor sight it looked down to where its creation battled with another Digimon. An Agumon, of all things. But it was not the orange reptile that interested the entity. Near to the puny creature, a small child was running. The Essences sensed something in this insignificant individual. The existence of their greatest nemesis - light! The only thing capable of subduing Darkness' power. Without lips or speech they hissed their fury at finding such a bearer of light in this dimension. It must be removed at once, else the light contained within that insubstantial body would pose the worst threat possible to the Powers' designs for this world.   
  
Tai tackled his sister to the ground, sending them both facedown into the choking dust. They hadn't gotten very far away from the orange dinosaur, but were far enough to merit fear of becoming the bird-monster's new target. Tai struggled to haul them both upright, but Kari chose that moment to grab at him, latching onto his waist like a limpet on a rock. He stumbled, sent off balance by her added weight, twisting around to fall heavily onto his back.   
  
Suddenly, a bolt of pure black lightning burst from the swirling mass of clouds, rushing towards its prey with unimaginable speed. The hazel-eyed boy saw its approach from where he lay, also noting where it was headed. Wrenching his body around, he pushed Kari to the ground, covering her trembling form with his own.  
  
Unlike natural lightning, this bolt of blackness didn't simply strike a random tall spot on Earth. Instead, it lanced downward in a near perfect arc, spearing the young boy through his back and impaling his heart with faultless aim. Tai's eyes widened as the javelin of Darkness passed right through him, before melting into the wound it had created. He slumped forward, blood leaking from the twin wounds in his chest and back. Kari screamed as the body of her dying brother pressed against her, red stains smearing across her pale jumpsuit.   
  
"Tai! Tai!" She yelled, tiny mind close to breaking point. But her sibling only stared at her, supporting himself weakly on arms placed either side of her head. Dark liquid dripped from the corner of his mouth, as he painfully sounded his last words.  
  
"K...Kar...i...Ru...run..."  
  
His arms gave way, and he collapsed on top of the toddler, silently willing her to move. To escape this battlefield. Behind them, the little dinosaur was nearly completely buried in pieces of fallen debris and chunks of concrete, almost certainly dead. Tai began to feel himself drift on a sea of nothingness, the only remaining sensation that of burning inside where the strange darkness was spreading through him, seeking the light which it had been sent to destroy. So this was what death felt like. It felt...empty.  
  
"TAIIIIIIIIII!!"  
  
Suddenly, a light exploded from within his lacerated chest. No, not from his chest. But close by. Tai gasped as the blinding light flooded into him, becoming tangible before his pain-wracked gaze. He marvelled at the fact that he was able to gasp, to draw in air to his ruined lungs as if they were whole. But...but suddenly there WERE whole, and undamaged. Strength flowed through his aching muscles, driving back the darkness consuming them like the Red Sea for Moses. He felt the waves of blackness recede - but not completely. A core of impenetrable darkness still sheltered in an alcove next to his heart, burying itself in the folds of existence it found there. Yet, amazingly, Tai felt his lungs begin to expand, felt the open gashes in his flesh close up and heal all by themselves. No, not by themselves, with help from the light. The light coming from....  
  
He raised his hazel eyes to his sister's face. Kari gazed back at him through the phosphoresce illuminating her body. The light pouring from her into him. Healing him, retrieving him from the brink of eternity he was balancing precariously on. Tai stared at her young face, so determined, and felt something stir within him. Admiration for the courage she was showing....  
  
Suddenly he threw back his head and yelled. A wordless shout, designed with the sole intention of giving the strength of the light to those who needed it. Kari's light rode on Tai's courageous shout, streaking across the open highway to envelope the still form of a certain orange dinosaur, infusing him with their combined power. Green eyes flashed open, accompanied by a roar that deepened considerably as it vociferated. A maelstrom of colour surrounded the small lizard, until another creature emerged from the rubble, sheltering the two children with its expanded bulk.  
  
Tai gazed up at the huge creature, whose ruby eyes focused on him with an unreadable gleam. Curiously, the boy's body was now completely uninjured, and he stared up at the towering monolith of flesh and fire with wonder in his hazel eyes. Already the memory of his near-death was beginning to fade, as had been pre-ordained by the Powers of Light.  
  
"Koromon?"  
  
The huge lizard growled softly, almost gently at the small child clutching protectively at his sister. "I'm Greymon, now."  
  
"You can be whatever you want...big guy." Tai whispered, confidence in this new ally's ability to defeat their enemy clear in his husky voice. With a blood-curdling roar, Greymon charged at the giant bird-monster, releasing a blast of blue fire from his serrated maw.  
  
"Nova Blast!"  
  
The Powers of Darkness recoiled at this turn of events. Despite its appearance, the bearer of the light was deceptively strong. Yet, the entity didn't shy away from this world, although they didn't embrace it either. They simply dissipated, waiting for the right moment they were sure would come in the future. The time when they could finally defeat the light and take control of both this and other worlds like it. That time would come, they were sure. All they had to do was wait.  
  
Beneath them, feathers flew and flames burned as the battle began anew. Giant monsters clashed among the buildings of Tokyo, fighting each other with renewed vehemence, unaware that at that moment, the Digidestined were being born.  
___________________  
  
The crowd outside the large green tents bustled happily, laughter and chatter filling the frosty air. Every now and then a cry of "merry Christmas" could be heard, followed by the appropriate response from the person it was directed at. Everywhere, people were smiling, jostling and giggling in the spirit of the season.   
  
A group of teenage girls carrying armloads of presents hurried past, eager to join the rapidly growing queue to the ticket booth. They nudged each other good naturedly, handing over their money and entering the biggest of the tents - which was in fact an arena of sorts - to sit as close to the stage set up there as possible. Already the seats around them were swelling with people - mostly teenagers, although there were a few parents trying to look 'hip' by accompanying their embarrassed offspring to a rock concert - even though the entertainment wasn't due to start for quite a while yet. All were wrapped up warm against the cold, gloves and brightly coloured scarves becoming the latest fashion statement.  
  
Tai, however, wasn't part of these throbbing masses. Instead he was outside the canvas constructions, walking around the 'backstage' area - or whatever could be constituted as such when dealing with tents. At his heels trotted Agumon, the ever-faithful little Digimon paying a visit to the real world for the holidays. The brown haired boy strode purposefully among the ropes and pegs, looking for someone. Finally he saw her, standing outside a closed door, which led into the band's rehearsal building. His heart performed a little flip-flop inside his chest. She was wearing her brand new blue winter coat with matching gloves, a pink scarf muffling her face from the sharp breeze ruffling her chestnut hair. Tai smiled knowingly. That scarf was a constant source of amusement for him, or rather; the wearer was when she complained about her mother's copious, but none-too-subtle attempts to make her more feminine, or as she put it, 'soppy'.   
  
At the teenage girl's feet was what appeared to be a large pink bird, striped here and there with splashes of bright blue. Biyomon's colouring was the only instance when her partner wouldn't complain about an overdose of pastel, instead admiring the Digimon's plumage as pretty. Girls could be so hard to understand, Tai mused thoughtfully. Always changing their minds about things.  
  
He called out loudly, in an effort to be heard of the strumming of instruments coming from inside the building. Matt's band rehearsal must be still going on, the hazel-eyed youth realized. They'd better get a move on; they're due on stage soon.  
  
"Hey, Sora! Wait up!"  
  
The girl by the door turned at his voice. As she did so, Tai saw that she was clutching a box covered in green wrapping paper and red ribbon in her hands. Idly, he wondered what the package contained, but didn't worry himself too much about it. Not so Agumon.  
  
"Mmm! Something smells good!" He cried, lifting his squarish snout and inhaling deeply at the scent emanating from the box. A globule of saliva dripped from the corner of his mouth to splash on the ground by his clawed feet - Agumon had never been one for hiding what he was thinking, and right now he was obviously thinking about the freshly baked cookies he could smell in Sora's hands.  
  
At that moment, the door into the rehearsal building creaked open to reveal a small wolf-like creature in a badly fitting blue fur coat. Gabumon's claws clacked on the concrete as he took a step outside, shivering at the cold despite his hairy attire.  
  
"Matt's busy getting ready, but I'll take those to him." He offered, gesturing to the cookies with one paw. The appetizing aroma reached his nostrils, and he breathed it in deeply. "Mmm."  
  
Biyomon's expression was scornful. "I bet you will! No way! You'll eat the whole thing yourself!"  
  
Gabumon's ruby eyes took on a feigned insulted look. He raised one furry paw to his yellow chest, laying it across his heart in mock shock. "Why, I resent that!" Mischief glowed in his gentle eyes and he patted his rather rotund belly with his other paw. "I'm on a diet!"  
  
At any other time, Tai would have laughed at this kind of comment. However, now only jangling nerves filled his body. He turned to Sora, taking a lungful of air for strength.  
  
The teenage girl looked blankly at the boy's face, then down at the floor. Tai wasn't sure, but he thought he could see something in her hazel eyes. Embarrassment? Guilt? Whatever did Sora have to feel guilty about? Dismissing these concerns, he began the question he'd been waiting to ask all day. The request he'd been constructing ever since he found out about Matt's concert...and the fact that she would be going.  
  
"So, um, Sora..." His mouth was dry. Come on Kamiya, pull yourself together! His inner voice berated. You're supposed to have the crest of Courage; something like this shouldn't be too difficult.  
  
Easy for you to say, Tai replied mentally, and then stopped. He was talking to himself. Worse, he was arguing with himself too - and losing. He halted his flow of words, composing himself slightly. Sora glanced up from staring at the floor, her expression quizzical, and perhaps even a little frightened. What's she afraid of? Tai wondered fleetingly, before renewing his attempts at coherent speech.  
  
"Sora...are you going to the concert with anybody? I mean...not that it matters to me...uh, just wondering." He added hastily, tripping over his words as he tried to get them out.   
  
Sora just kept on staring at the ground, her expression unreadable. "No, I want to be available in case Matt is free afterwards." A tiny, half-hearted laugh accompanied this statement.  
  
Her words cut through his nerves like a knife, slicing away until only hollow disappointment reverberated inside him. Tai gulped, Matt? She'd...she'd chosen Matt?  
  
She'd chosen Matt.  
  
The phrase echoed through his mind, bouncing off the crevices of his mortified brain like a bell's toll. All saliva evaporated from his mouth, and he croaked almost inaudibly.  
  
"Oh...I see. Matt, huh?"  
  
Another weak giggle, tinctured by...shame? Culpability? Regret? Or was that just his wishful thinking?  
  
"Uh huh."  
  
Tai stared at her rosy face. How could she? How could she pick Matt over...  
  
Over who? Him? They'd never been a couple, so why should he feel so jealous of the blonde boy? His friend. He should be happy, shouldn't he?   
  
Shouldn't he?  
  
Sora gazed at him, her hands trembling slightly. Tai read in her hazel eyes that she hadn't wanted to tell him, but the situation had forced her to do so. She hadn't wanted to hurt him. He was her friend.  
  
So why did he ache so?  
  
Her gaze averted, she'd seen the pain of rejection in his eyes. Tai mentally slapped himself. Look! Look at what you're doing. So she's not with you, so what? She's happy isn't she? Isn't that enough for you? Don't be selfish, Tai.  
  
Drawing himself up, he took a tentative step forward and laid one hand on her shoulder. Sora's chestnut head jerked up, surprised at the action.  
  
"You're not...mad at me, Tai?" She asked timidly. Tai plastered a fake grin upon his face. It wouldn't be right for him to spoil her Christmas. He was supposed to be her friend, after all. With that, Tai did one of the hardest things he'd ever had to do.  
  
"No, of course not." He gently pushed her towards the yawning door. "Now get in there and say 'hi' to Matt for me."  
  
"Thanks Tai." A spark of what he'd thought was regret still burned in her grateful hazel orbs, but the teenage girl swivelled her head away from him before he could properly discern whether he'd seen or imagined it.   
  
Agumon took a few steps forward, waving long arms above his head to emphasize his displeasure at having the delicious cookies removed. "The least you could do is leave us the cookies!" He cried in his high-pitched voice.  
  
Sora smiled, a breath of almost-laughter brushing of over her soft lips. "Tell you what, I'll make some special ones for you." Then the teenage girl turned away - not waiting for his answer - and walked soberly into the building, Biyomon following loyally behind her. Tai's heart splintered a little more with every step she took...away from him. But his strong façade never faltered. Never slipped. He wouldn't let it.  
  
"I'll be waiting...Thanks." He whispered quietly, watching her go.  
  
Agumon gazed up at his partner, and saw the pain mixed with forced happiness in the brown haired boy's expression. The orange lizard placed his claws on his hips, something resembling pride in his green eyes.  
  
"You know what, Tai?"  
  
The boy looked down at him, hands stuffed deep into his pockets. "What?"  
  
"You've really grown up."  
  
Tai smiled at his little friend, grateful for his support.  
  
"Look out!" A whiney voice suddenly rang out behind them. "Incoming!" The pair barely had time to turn around before what seemed like a miniature tornado blew past, knocking them both over. June Motomiya thundered into the building, a huge pile of brightly covered gifts balanced in her arms and a determined look glued to her face.  
  
"Watch where you're going, June!" Tai yelled after her retreating form.  
  
"Sorry!" The teenager's voice floated back, sounding not in the least bit apologetic. "I'm in a hurry to see Matt. All the girls think he's the cutest!" She couldn't resist adding.  
  
Tai's face twitched. June's flippant words stung him. He didn't care about all the girls, just one. One who wasn't his, and now never would be...because of Matt. Jealousy flared in the brown haired youth's gut, coupled with anger. Anger at his best friend for the pain he'd inadvertently caused him. Anger at fate for creating emotions in the first place. Anger at himself for being too weak to let her know how he felt sooner, and now it was too late.  
  
A small rock sat nearby, silent and unassuming. Tai's angry gaze fell upon it, and without really thinking about what he was doing, he picked it up and hurled it as hard as he could at the side of the building. All his pain, all his anger went into that throw, as if he could somehow relieve himself of his errant feelings with physical exertion. The missile struck with a vacant thud, leaving a small dent in the brickwork, before falling impotently to the ground, a meaningless rock once more.  
  
Agumon stared at it for a second, then looked at his partner, jaws slightly open with surprise. "Tai?"  
  
Tai knelt; arm still outstretched from his throw, breathing harshly. Resentment bubbled inside him like a boiling broth, fanned by the flames of his disappointment and hurt. Suddenly he bent forward, clutching at his stomach. A small groan of corporal pain escaped his lips as a burning sensation lanced through his midriff. Agumon darted forward, alarmed at his friend's patent distress.  
  
"Tai? Tai!" He repeated, rubbing the boy's back with one thickly clawed hand. Another moan emitted from Tai's mouth as a wave of intense nausea washed over him. He felt like he was about to throw up, and could vaguely taste bile at the back of his throat. He covered his mouth with one hand, coughing and gagging at the inexplicable queasiness.   
  
Gently, the small orange reptile caressed his back, not really knowing what was wrong or what to do. He felt helpless, and was considering running to fetch Sora and Matt when, abruptly, Tai straightened up. The boy drew a deep breath, sighed, and turned to his puzzled companion. Agumon simply looked at the hazel-eyed youth, who now seemed completely healthy and comfortable. His green eyes widened as Tai stood - albeit shakily - and smiled down at him.  
  
"Um, what was that?" The Digimon demanded.   
  
"Oh, nothing." Tai replied.  
  
"It sure didn't look like nothing to me!" Agumon protested, but stopped when his partner bent down and scratched him on the back of his head, just where he liked to be scratched. His remonstrations died in his gullet as adept fingers created a tickling sensation on the crown of his flat skull.  
  
"Really, it's nothing, Agumon. It get these attacks sometimes, it's nothing new. The doctor says it's probably just some virus I picked up at school that won't leave my system. But I'm fine, really."  
  
"Well...if you're sure." Agumon reluctantly conceded.  
  
"I am." Tai answered, effectively closing the subject. "We'd better get going, or else all the best seats will be gone."  
  
Agumon nodded, and dutifully followed the brown haired boy back through the maze of tents to the stage entrance. They walked slowly, having no need to hurry. Friendly silence stretched between them, as each contemplated his own thoughts.  
  
Contrary to what he'd told his Digimon, Tai was a little worried. It was true that these strange episodes were nothing new - they'd been plaguing him inexplicably for months now. But recently they'd become much more frequent, and potent. Where before had been only minor discomfort now felt like someone gouging out his gut. He hadn't told anyone about this, least of all his family. Both Kari and his mother shared the gene for worrying, and no doubt if he informed them of these odd happenings then he'd be quarantined in his room until college!  
  
He sighed. Now was not the time to be worrying. After all, it was Christmas, the time to be merry. Now was the time to be enjoying yourself with your friends, partaking in the spirit of the season and generally having a good time. He drove all thoughts of sickness from his mind, concentrating instead on the evening of entertainment he was about to embark on.   
  
Yet still, at the back of his mind, a face floated. A face that caused him both misery and delight in equal measure. A face he wished to look upon, but at the same time never wanted to see again. A kind face. A face framed by chestnut hair and gentle, hazel eyes....  
___________________  
  
Tai hung over the toilet bowl, retching the last of the bile from his craw. He spat greenish saliva onto the white porcelain, groaning slightly as it burned his tongue. He'd barely made it this time. Even so, the bathroom carpet would never be the same again - nor would his tracksuit, for that matter. His knees were damp where they'd touched the vomit sprayed liberally across the floor, and his front was stained an ugly yellow.   
  
The room span slightly when he righted himself, flushing the toilet as he did so. That was the fifth time this evening. He'd never had so many attacks in such a short space of time. His gut felt empty and cramped, having nothing left to give. Yet filling his aching belly was the very last thing on Tai's mind at that moment. His mind was cloudy, a result of the continuous vomiting, he surmised.  
  
Staggering slightly, he hauled himself upright by the rim. He would have told somebody about these numerous attacks sooner, but the apartment was silent and vacant except for him. Kari was at a friend's sleepover, and his parents were out having dinner at a restaurant with some friends. The pallid boy glanced at the tacky fish-shaped clock on the bathroom wall. 10:30pm, they should be back soon. Another searing pain manifested in his chest, and he doubled over in agony. As swiftly as it had appeared, the pain vanished, leaving him breathless and sweaty, clinging to the sink for support.  
  
What was happening to him? Along with the vomiting, tonight he'd been experiencing intense chest pains, like heartburn but much, much stronger. He'd never had these before, and they scared him. He'd scolded himself for being frightened of such things, but his fear remained unabated. Something buried in his memory told him that he'd felt this before, a long time ago, and that it was very, very dangerous. Yet, the exact information lingered tantalizingly out of reach to his questing mind, playing about the fringes of his recollection like dancing smoke-wisps. Insubstantial and teasing.  
  
He tottered back to his bedroom, all but collapsing onto his bunk. The room spun around him, and black spots pattered across his vision. There was no doubt about it, something was seriously wrong with him. But what? He'd been completely fine this morning when he bade goodbye to Kari, and never healthier than when his parents left that evening for dinner. Why was he feeling this way now, of all times?  
  
It had been four months since MaloMyotismon's defeat in the Digital World. In all that time Tai had never experienced such violent attacks as these. Groaning slightly with the effort, he tried to remember what might have sparked them off this evening. He'd been sitting at his desk, doing some geography homework due in at least two weeks ago. No, no he hadn't. He was meant to have been doing the homework, but instead he'd been looking at something. A picture...a photograph of him and his friends. The one that Sora took in the Digital World - last week, was it? Not long ago, anyway. She'd given copies to all of them, and Kari had bought a frame for theirs and positioned it on the desk where they could see it no matter where they stood in the bedroom. He'd been looking at that picture. Studying it. But....what had interested him so much?  
  
Tai's head pounded like a thousand tiny sledgehammers were beating the inside of his skull. He remembered, he'd been looking at them again. Matt and Sora. Even in a picture featuring the entire Digidestined team and their Digimon, those two were still together. Still so close. It had been months since they began going out - Christmas last year, if he remembered rightly - but their relationship still hurt Tai. He never let it show, but whenever he saw them his heart felt like it was being forcibly ripped from his chest. They had each other, and seemed so happy, but whom did he have? Nobody. That was what he was looking at in the picture. Her. And Matt. With him, and yet not with him. A couple, and a spare.  
  
Suddenly, Tai's gut contracted again, and he was forced to scramble off his bed and rush to the bathroom. The sounds of empty retching could be heard, followed by pained moans as the teenager's stomach constricted upon itself, sending naught but burning broth up into his gullet. He crouched on the tiled floor, rubbing his gut in an effort to pacify it. His labours were in vain, however, as another bout of nausea swept through his throbbing body, reducing him to a foetal position, laying in his own vomit on the cold floor.  
  
Dully, he recognized the faint sounds of keys in a lock. His parents were finally home. His voice croaked impotently in his throat as the adults' chatter filtered through the apartment to his ears. He hadn't even the strength to call to them any more.  
  
A bang. The door closing, probably. His father's curses at the sticky lock. That was normal. Then his mother's voice.  
  
"Tai? Tai, honey, are you still up?"  
  
He didn't answer. Couldn't. Hadn't the power.  
  
"Tai? Are you in bed?"  
  
Silence. Murmured shufflings between the married couple, then Mrs. Kamiya's exasperated tone, loud and clear.  
  
"Oh, he's gone and left the bathroom light on again. Honestly, our electricity bill will be through the roof!"  
  
The padding of slipper-clad feet on the floorboards, followed by the creak of the bathroom door and his mother's horrified gasp.  
  
"Oh my God! Tai! Tai, what's wrong?"   
  
Someone knelt beside him, their shadow darkening the blackness behind his closed eyelids. Hands slid around his back, lifting him clumsily to a sitting position. He groaned, as his already aggrieved midriff was jolted, green bile inadvertently sliding down his chin. His mother's voice again, hazy and indistinct despite her close proximity.  
  
"Hurry!" She seemed to say. "He's collapsed, and...and the bathroom's...well just come and look at it!"  
  
More footsteps, then his father's gruff baritone. He was further away than his wife, probably standing in the door. Tai vaguely heard the words 'ambulance' and 'hospital' through the dark fog clogging his senses. He struggled to pierce this cloying blackness, but it had formed an almost impenetrable shield around his wits, rendering his body virtually useless to his disorientated mind. Mentally he slumped back into the nest of comforting numbness manifesting itself at the very back of his brain. It was too much effort. Simply too much effort to open his eyes and try to move his aching limbs. Why bother when he could just rest here. Here in the sweet darkness, where he was safe. Where nothing could touch him. He sank back, opening his very soul to the darkness, asking it to come and numb him from the pain his body was experiencing, and felt it rush in like a waterfall, surging into his psyche like the tide of a dark sea. Answering his request with actions rather than comforting words.  
  
Tai was vaguely aware of his mother's face. Her usually soft eyes were expanded and staring, disbelief and fear clearly evident in their hazel depths. But the image was nebulous, as if in a dream....or a hallucination. Yes, that must be it. A hallucination brought on by this strange sickness and the sound of his mother's voice. Tai's perception faded in and out, supporting this theory.  
  
Drifting between the waking and dreaming worlds, Tai experienced strange and disturbing visions. He dreamt he saw his own hand, talons like that of an eagle affixed to his fingers, stained with a dark, sticky liquid. Another time he thought he could hear growling, underscored by a wet ripping sound. His grip on reality was tenuous, and more times than not, he viewed only the blackness of oblivion.  
  
Finally, he glided into the harbour of consciousness, senses returning to him one by one. As his hearing manifested itself once more, he became aware of the intense silence surrounding him. Faint dripping could be heard, but nothing else. Tai thought he must be in the hospital, such was the quiescence - memories of his father's words resurfacing in his cloudy mind. With enormous effort he forced his eyelids open.  
  
The room was dark, and for a moment he was blind. He waited, allowing himself to become accustomed to the gloom and his night-vision to kick in. Gradually, indistinct shapes became clear, illuminated by a shaft of moonlight filtering through the half-drawn curtain at the window. Tai realized with a jolt that he wasn't at the hospital, but was in fact at home, still in his own apartment. His eye's adapted themselves to the shadows, and he gasped at what he beheld.  
  
The living room was a mess. Everything was smashed, burned, destroyed. Photographs and ornaments lay shattered across the floor, and the slashed curtains billowed inward, blown by the breeze coming through the splintered windowpane. The stench of smoke permeated the air, accompanied by that of burnt meat. Tai coughed as the evil reek flowed into his nostrils, reflexively sitting up to escape it. His head reeled, but what he saw next wasn't any hallucination.  
  
The body of his mother lay stretched out before him, her flesh torn and bloody. She lay on her back, hazel eyes staring blankly at the ceiling, her throat an open wound. Around her on the carpet were dark stains. Blood. Her blood. Tai backed away from the corpse, crawling rearward on his backside. His spine suddenly struck something soft, and he twisted round to see another corpse behind him. This one was missing huge chunks of its body, including a hand and foot. These lay nearby, next to the small furry body of their family cat. The feline's belly spewed forth ruptured entrails and vital organs, red fluid leaking improvidently across the rug. His father and Miko.  
  
Tai's stomach lurched, and his hands flew inadvertently to his mouth. However, before they reached his face he saw something, and abruptly froze in shock. Scarlet juice ran freely across his palms, almost black in the poor light. It dripped onto the floor as he stared at it, trembling. Was this his blood? Or...or...  
  
Memories of his semi-conscious visions sprang to mind, and he scrambled to his feet before whipping round to look into the mirror, which hung lazily by one corner on the opposite wall. Distorting cracks latticed the glass, but his reflection was clear nonetheless.   
  
A pair of red eyes stared back at him, set in a canvas of tanned skin. Jutting into the lips of this visage were wickedly pointed fangs, crimson saliva dribbling around them. Tai took a step backwards, and so did the image. It was him! That monster in the mirror was him! His glowing eyes darted down to his hands again, studying them more closely. Sure enough, as he'd suspected, talons speared from his fingertips like tiny, razor-sharp javelins. Tai's airway constricted as the horrible realization of what had occurred came to him.  
  
Those visions, the strange imagoes he'd seen, they hadn't been dreams at all. They'd been the half-conscious sights of him murdering his parents. And the odd noises - the growling and ripping - that had been him...tearing them apart. No! No, it couldn't be! But all the evidence pointed towards it. Everything around him - the devastated apartment, the bodies, himself - indicated that somehow, someway, he's transformed into this hideous beast and slaughtered his own kin.   
  
Tai turned away from the mirror, sickened by what he saw. How had this happened? What was going on? But his gaze came instead to rest upon the carcasses of his kith and kin. Their lifeless eyes stared up at him accusingly, and the boy could almost hear them indicting him with their deaths.   
  
He spun around, crying "No!" But all that came out was a hacking growl. His vocal chords were no longer human, and at the sound of his mutated voice the teenager's nerve snapped and he bolted for the door.  
  
Down the corridor he sped, feet thudding on the metalwork, and then on the concrete when he reached the ground. Away he ran, away into the night. His grief and guilt driving him onward into the dark alleys surrounding his apartment block. Tai's brain was a maelstrom of words and images. What? How? When? Where? Why?   
  
Why?  
  
Why had he done this terrible deed?  
  
Why had he become this awful monster?  
  
Why had it been his parents he'd killed?  
  
Why had he even been born?  
  
Just...why?  
  
Tilting his warped face heavenwards, the brown haired youth howled his fury at the moon and stars, who shone down on him with luminescent indifference. Tai roared impotently, anger clouding his already hazy mind.   
  
He hadn't gone far when he saw a figure a little way in front of him. A teenage boy, walking with his hands delved deep into the pockets of his coat. Through the fog enfolding him Tai noticed almost laughingly that this young man was dressed in an almost identical tracksuit to his. Except his wasn't smeared with blood and vomit. This seemingly insignificant fact burned into Tai, causing resentment to froth inside him. This boy didn't know what it was like to lose your family by your own hands...no, claws. This boy wasn't going home to a wrecked apartment. This boy didn't know pain and death like Tai knew it. This boy didn't know how darkness could seep into your soul with grief and remorse.  
  
The foreign teenager's head jerked up at the sound of Tai's footsteps, and his green eyes widened as he saw what was coming towards him. He stopped, then turned and ran away; back in the direction he'd come. Tai's tongue lolled, slavering, from his jaws, his crimson eyes fixed on the new boy's retreating back. Even as he ran, he felt his wits slipping, his mind being pulled from under him by some unknown force. A ring of blackness appeared around his field of vision, looking to encase this part of his brain and let loose another. But Tai fought it. With all his heart and all his soul he fought this inexplicable darkness looking to release the monster within him. Yet he was fighting a losing battle, and despite his efforts he sensed himself falling, falling into the same numbing blackness he'd nestled within in the bathroom. The determined boy refused to leave, however, clinging onto his sight if nothing else. A strange presence rushed to fill his other senses, crowding the small part of Tai that was left cowering next to his eyes. But still he repudiated its attempts to remove him completely, and watched impotently at what happened next.  
  
With a swiftness not its own, Tai's body careered down the narrow alley, pausing only long enough to gather its muscles and leap upon the boy at the other end. It held the squirming teenager fast by his throat, lifting him bodily off the ground. His feet kicked helplessly at empty space, and his hands pawed at the talons clutching his neck in an iron grip. Tai's body smiled, its fangs glinting evilly in the pallid moonlight. Around them, sparks of blue began to fill the air, like those of visible electricity charges. The boy's body began to vibrate, and his mouth grew wide as his lungs were deprived of the life-giving oxygen they needed. Blue flashes lanced through his young body, sizzling the tender flesh as they passed through. If Tai had been in control of his stomach he would have heaved at this ghastly image.  
  
Tai's body laughed. A growling, coughing laugh out of a voice box no longer designed for such sounds. The terrified boy clasped before it emitted choking noises, his face beneath a substantial black fringe turning purplish-red. Around them the shadows seemed to swirl and move, dancing a jig of pain and death. Tai was suddenly aware of a change in the presence controlling his body, as if it were dividing its attention between its victim and something else. With a start he realized that....whatever the thing might be, it was somehow controlling the shadows around it, causing them to twirl in their macabre ballet. Faster and faster they moved, enveloping the gruesome spectacle in a veritable whirlwind of darkness.   
  
Finally, with a resounding screech like that of a stricken animal, the tangible blackness became as a spear, hurling itself down the new boy's throat. He gasped with pain as it flowed into his open mouth, eyes widening as it spread caustically through his system. Tai could only watch, unable even to close his own eyes, as the youth's body jerked and thrashed from the entity inside him. At length there was a hollow explosion signalling the demise of the boy. Wetness splattered onto his killer's face, accompanied by liberal amounts of gore and mangled tissue. Tai's body released the decapitated corpse, turning its eyes downwards to see it crumple unceremoniously to the cold ground. The flesh was still smoking, sending waves of noxious fumes into the frosty air. Tai's body slid out its tongue, licking a driblet of blood from where it had splashed onto its lips. The crimson liquid spread its coppery tang across the taste buds it touched, and Tai became aware that he could taste it. Gradually, the presence receded from Tai's body, storing itself away again from whence it had come. Tai perceived that it seemed considerably weakened by the outbursts of the evening, drained especially by the incident which had just taken place. Heartened by this, he strove to regain control of his body, finding little resistance from the feeble entity.   
  
In a few seconds which felt like eternity, Tai found himself once more very much in charge of his limbs and senses. He stared down at the headless carcass laid across his feet, and promptly turned to throw up. His stomach, however, was still empty from its exertions earlier that night, and he fell to his knees in the sparkling dark fluid staining the concrete as a burning pain wracked his midriff instead.   
  
"I didn't mean to." He whispered, as his body slowly returned to normal. He had no explanation for why it chose to do this now, just as he had no explanation for anything else that had happened this evening. Silent tears coursed their way down his blood-spattered cheeks, mixing to become scarlet rivulets as they fell. Tai grieved for that nameless boy in the shadows, whose life had been so abruptly and violently taken from him this night. He hadn't asked for this. He hadn't even known the brown haired youth who now wept for him.  
  
As those rarely seen tears splashed onto the pavement, Tai came to a decision. He had to leave. Had to get out of Tokyo. He had no idea what had happened to him, but he was aware of the fact that he had murdered three people tonight. Maybe this would never occur again - and he dearly wished that this be so - but still the weight remained heavy on his soul that he'd snuffed out the existences of three human beings. Innocents. And that their blood was still fresh on his hands. He couldn't stay, not after what he'd done. He couldn't face anyone, not any more. Not knowing the sins he'd committed by the light of the moon.  
  
Struggling to his feet, clothes still damp with sweat and other bodily juices, Tai stumbled off into the night. His mind was fuzzy - thoughts unclear - but his resolve was strong. He would never return to this place. Never. Fleetingly, a face billowed across his mind's eye, a face framed by chestnut hair with gentle hazel eyes...  
  
He pushed the thought away. Never!  
  
As the stars ceaselessly beat down their pale white light, the boy known as Tai Kamiya silently disappeared from the lives of those who knew him. All that was left to signal his departure was a bloody corpse laying unrecognisable in a dark Tokyo side street, and the stench of death riding on the frosty night air.  
___________________  
  
TO BE CONTINUED.... 


	9. Chapter Eight ~ Shattered Moments (Part ...

DISCLAIMER: Digimon isn't my property, it - and all characters contained therein - are legally bound to Toei, Saban and Bandai. However, this story is mine so no plagiarizing please. If I find any evidence of this then I will be severely disgruntled, and believe me, a disgruntled Scribbler is a very dangerous thing!  
This is the continuation of the previous chapter, and for the random person who e-mailed me, imago is a real word, I didn't make it up (It means effigy) If you have time on your hands to send worthless nit-picking mail 2 me then U should get a life! I mean it; don't go bitching about something I worked so hard on unless you want me to come trounce you good and proper!  
(See, I told you a disgruntled Scribbler wasn't very nice) ^_^;;  
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"The Darkness Within" By Scribbler   
Chapter Eight ~ "Shattered Moments (Part Two)"  
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"So we beat on, boats against the current, borne back ceaselessly into the past." - F. Scott Fitzgerald.  
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Step.  
  
Step.  
  
Step.  
  
Rain pounded on the tarmac, throwing up a fine spray as it made contact. Wet fronds of long grass bowed their saturated heads as if in subservience at the edges of the hard black river, bouncing slightly as drops of water battered them from above. Beyond the embankment were fields stretching as far as the eye could see, green and lush, yet drowned like everything else.  
  
Along this deserted road a figure walked. His clothes were soaked through and his hair was plastered to his head, but he neither seemed to notice nor to care. His shoes left imprints in the springy turf of the bank, which quickly filled with water as soon as he'd passed by. Small pools of murky liquid showed the path he'd taken.  
  
Step.  
  
Step.  
  
Step.  
  
How long had it been now? Days? Weeks? Months? How long had he been on this endless journey? He didn't know. His watch had been pawned a while back when he needed money for food. He hadn't been sorry to see it go. A symbol of his old life, that was all it was. Best gone from his possession if he was ever to forget.  
  
A car blew past, sending up a flurry of raindrops from a nearby puddle. As the machine roared by, the figure could see laughing faces through the streaked glass, pointing. They'd been aiming at him. He didn't even bother to shake off the excess water; what did it matter? What did anything matter any more?  
  
Step.  
  
Step.  
  
Step.  
  
If he could just keep one foot going in front of the other, that was all that mattered. He'd travelled so far already, but not far enough. Not nearly enough by his standards.   
  
Lift one foot, swing it forward, place it down, and shift your weight. Lift the other, swing it past its brother, find a place for it, and shift your weight again. Step. Step. Step. Keep on stepping. Keep on walking forward. Never look back. To look back was to remember, and he couldn't let himself remember.  
  
Step.  
  
Step.  
  
Step.  
  
He concentrated on stepping. His head felt light, his muscles weak. He hadn't eaten for days. Hadn't had the money, or the inclination. Blinking away the fuzziness clouding his vision, he focused harder on placing each shoe in front of the other one. Stepping slowly and carefully along the top of the grassy ridge.  
  
Step.  
  
Step.  
  
Step.  
  
Suddenly his right foot skidded on the slick sward. His legs became tangled, tripping him up, and he tumbled ungraciously down the side of the bank towards the fields. The stranger's body slipped and slid, coming to rest eventually among the tufts of sodden weeds. Face smudged with soil and dirt, he tried to lever himself up, but failed. His sickly arms simply wouldn't support his weight. He lay there, face down, unable to move. Perhaps, even, not wanting to move.  
  
This wasn't so bad. He could barely feel the rain anymore, and the biting cold had become no more than a dull ache. If he had to remain here and wait for death to come, then so be it. He'd attempted to reach death's embrace before, but always been stopped, or saved. Gad damn the people who'd chosen to help him, damn them all to hell! He didn't want to be helped; only to lose himself in the soft embraces of Hades and Persephone.  
  
The mysterious figure lay prone in the mud. Maybe this time he would be allowed to die. Maybe.  
  
Maybe....  
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A little girl was playing in the fields of her family's farm. It had rained during the night, and the small blonde child was taking great delight in splashing in every puddle she could find. Big ones, small ones, it didn't matter what size, she jumped in all of them, revelling in the feeling of water spraying up her clothes. The damp morning air was punctured by her light laughter, accompanied every now and then by the sound of a car rushing past on the road beyond the ridge which marked the end of the farmland. These noises were few and far between, however. This terrain was as far out in the middle of nowhere as many were likely to go, and few motor vehicles had the need to come way out here.  
  
The little girl dashed about happily, her new red Wellingtons worn proudly upon her tiny feet. She'd received them as a present from her uncle for her birthday last week, and this was the first chance she'd had to use them. She'd just turned five, and considered herself to be very grown up now - but not adult enough to pass up puddle-splashing after last night's downpour.  
  
The skinny child was just splashing in the biggest puddle she'd discovered yet, when she suddenly heard a strange noise. Her feet ceased their incessant paddling, and had she possessed ears like those of a dog, she would have pricked them up with interest. The noise was odd, like a cross between a groan and her father's snoring. The child gigged softly to herself at this thought. Her mother hated her husband's snoring, and every night could be found trying some new method for getting him to stop. None had worked so far, and the echoing rumbles of his slumber remained a nightly occurrence in their poky house.  
  
The five-year-old followed the bizarre sound to its source, eager to see what caused it. Finally she traced it to a mound of clothing, discarded at the foot of the embankment. Her mother had warned her not to get this near to the road, but the little girl's curiosity had gotten the better of her, and she crept closer to the dirty bundle of fabrics, inquisitiveness shining in her rosy face.  
  
The pile of clothes appeared to be nothing out of the ordinary. Just another heap of abandoned rubbish somebody had been too lazy to take to the dump. She'd seen hundreds like this, and was slightly disappointed that it wasn't something more interesting. The girl drew closer, whatever reservations she might have had rapidly evaporating into the dank morning air. She tapped the mound with her foot, and then sprang back in surprise when it suddenly moved. Another snoring-groan was issued from within, and the youngster was about to bolt in fright when it raised its head. Her jaw dropped open as she realized that what she had initially thought of as a bundle of mouldy clothing was in fact a person!  
  
Two bleary, hazel eyes met hers, and the blonde girl stopped in her tracks. Something in those eyes held her fast, and despite her mother's warnings of 'stranger-danger' she found herself studying this strange individual lying in the mud.  
  
He was young, not much older than her cousin, Billy. The foreigner's mien spoke of living rough, of cold days and even colder nights spent out in the open, with only the stars for company. Spikes of dusty brown hair shot from his scalp, and a blue headband adorned his skull, pushing a substantial fringe from his hazel eyes. Tanned skin was pulled taunt across hollow cheeks, evidence of severe malnourishment, and in several places on his face festering sores were visible. In all he was a sorry specimen, looking as though he could do with a good meal and a warm bed.   
  
Sympathy flared inside the little girl - such innocent sympathy as has never known the harsh reality of life - and she stepped forward, hands clasped behind her slender back, rocking self-consciously on the heels of her red boots.   
  
"Hi. Who are you?"  
  
The stranger seemed confused at being addressed by this small child, and only blinked at her in a puzzled manner. She greeted him again, voice gentle and welcoming.  
  
"Hi. What are you doing there? What's your name?"  
  
This time the boy replied. He was softly spoken, his tone bewildered and weak.  
  
"My...my name? I...I..." He seemed to search for appropriate words for a second, as if he couldn't remember, then; "I...I fell....in the rain. Slipped...down the bank..."  
  
"Did you hurt yourself?" The little girl asked. "That ridge is pretty steep. I'm not allowed to play on there because of the road." The stranger only gazed at her. She sighed in that exasperated way that five-year-olds do, placing her hands on her hips as she'd seen her mother do countless time before. "What's your name?"  
  
The teenage boy looked at this elfin child stood before him. Tai Kamiya was still groggy from his night spent in the rain; surprised somewhat that he was still alive. Once again, he'd survived where others would have died. That was the only reason he'd lasted as long as this without perishing - though not for want of trying. No matter how bad the situation seemed he always seemed to survive to see another sunrise. It was as if he weren't human. Certainly, he didn't seem to be as limited in abilities as most boys his age...  
  
No! He was thinking too much. Keep your mind clear, Tai. Don't think about what's happening to you, you'll only make it happen faster. Tai shook away the thoughts permeating his unwilling brain, focusing instead on the girl in front of him.  
  
"My....name?" He couldn't tell her his real one, that was too dangerous. If word got around that a 'Tai Kamiya' had been here then people could start asking awkward questions he wouldn't be able to answer. He gulped, stalling for time. "I....I don't remember."  
  
"You don't know your own name?" The little girl was incredulous.  
  
"Hit....hit my head." Tai offered obscurely, rubbing at his skull with one hand. Her mouth formed a little 'o' of understanding.  
  
"Oh. I saw this once before in a cartoon show. You must have am...am....neez...yaa!" Her young tongue struggled slightly with the word.  
  
"Amnesia?" Tai suggested. She nodded, wisps of golden hair bouncing on her shoulders. Just go with it, a voice at the back of Tai's mind ordered, it'll be easier then answering questions later on. How can you explain a past you can't remember? "Yes. I suppose I must have."  
  
"Well, my name's Terri." The child stated matter-of-factly. "My real name's Terri-Lee Pashuda, but that's too much of a mouthful, my Mom says, so everyone just calls me Terri. You can call me Terri, too, if you like." She gazed at him expectantly through soft grey eyes.  
  
"Yes." Tai replied. "I'd like that."  
  
"So why are you here?" The girl demanded, hopping from foot to foot impatiently.  
  
"I don't know." Tai responded. "I can't remember."  
  
"Well that's not very good!" A hint of disgust was evident in the youngster's voice. "We must give you a name, stranger. You need a name." She paused for a moment, thinking. A breeze blew past, ruffling a few strands of her blonde tresses. Finally she snapped from her contemplations. "Adam. Do you like that name?"  
  
Adam. Tai turned the name over in his mind. Wasn't that the name of the first man in the Bible? It wasn't his religion, but they'd studied Christianity last year at school, and he remembered reading about some guy named Adam who lived in the Garden of Eden when the world was first made. The first man. It seemed fitting somehow. He was beginning a new life, trying to forget who he was, who he used to be. What better way to start than with a new name? And a name that meant 'new beginning', no less.  
  
"Yes. Yes, I like that name. Adam."  
  
"Fine, you're called Adam, then." The blonde child spoke as if that closed the matter entirely, folding her arms, a dare to defy her clear in her stance. Tai didn't have the energy to argue. He'd wanted a new identity, and it seemed she was giving one to him.   
  
Suddenly, the arm he was propped up on began to tremble, and with a jerk, it collapsed under him. He gave a faint squeak as his nose ploughed once again into the dirt, soil and grass stems clogging his nostrils. The tiny figure before him looked on, concern in her grey eyes.  
  
"You need help, Adam-stranger. I'll go fetch my Dad; he'll know what to do. You wait here, I'll be right back." With that, she took off across the green belt of fields, red boots sending up a spray of murky water in her wake.  
  
Where does she expect me to go? Tai thought idly. I'm weak as a newborn kitten. Probably couldn't fight off a flea if it tried to bite me.   
  
As he watched her go, half of his mind screamed out to stop the little girl before she reached her destination; to keep himself a secret as he'd done for so long. But the other, stronger, half, called out for her to run faster, to fetch help for his sores, food for his belly, and a bed for his slumber. Faster, faster little girl. Run for me, please. Run for me.  
  
And on that cold, wet morning, the being known only as 'Adam' entered into the world, and a new life began in the dew.  
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The sun sat huge in the reddening sky. Yellow and bulbous, it beat down the last of its warm rays before retiring behind the horizon for the night. Despite being evening, the air was balmy, and a faint aroma of flowers loitered in the slightly stuffy atmosphere. In all, the scene spoke of peace and tranquillity - the undisturbed beauty of Mother Nature.  
  
A lone figure sat on a clump of large rocks, not far from the Pashuda farmhouse. He was balanced easily on the largest of these massive stones, its wide flat surface providing a comfortable perch as well as a vantage point over the surrounding landscape. One leg draped lazily over the edge, the other drawn up to his chin in quiet contemplation.  
  
Tai gazed across the breath-taking panorama. This was his favourite spot at sunset, and he could often be found sat atop this broad precipice, waiting. It had been nearly two months since he came to Pashuda Farm, yet still the vista amazed him. Every time he saw it, sky aflame with the colours of a dying day, he drank it in as if it were life itself, a tangible sustenance set in visual form.  
  
A soft breeze, no more than a butterfly's whisper really, ruffled his brown hair. One fawn strand tugged loose to go flying, dancing on the thermals until it was lost from sight. Tai sighed. If he could have created a paradise, then he knew he couldn't have bettered this.   
  
Something caught his eye in the distance. A bobbing yellow blob, no more than a speck to anyone else, but Tai could clearly make out the form of a person running through the fallow field. Terri. She waved, not being able to see him from so far away, but knowing that he'd be there. Tai didn't bother to return the gesture. With her average abilities he knew she wouldn't be able to see it anyway. She was quite late today. The bus should have dropped her off a good half hour ago, and he'd been starting to worry. He felt rather protective of the little girl who'd befriended him before she even knew his name, and sat watching for her to return from school every day. She never arrived until after six - since the education facility was in the village far west of the farm - so typically he'd finished his chores and was able to linger on his rock for her homecoming.  
  
He waited for her to reach him, cheeks rosy, breathing coming in short gasps from her run. She reached the rocky outcrop and paused for a moment to catch her breath, before climbing up to join him. Tai shifted his position slightly so that she could sit by his side without falling off, and she flopped down gratefully.  
  
"Hi, Adam."   
  
Tai nodded in greeting. He'd grown used to answering to his new name. He'd had to. Nobody called him 'Tai' around here, and more often than not he was termed only as 'boy' or 'you there'. Not that people were overly unfriendly, just wary of him. With good reason too, he reminded himself. After all, he must seem quite strange to them. There had been a slight outcry among the farm workers upon the Pashuda's decision to take him in, but the kindly family had stood firm on their resolution to house the starving teenager their daughter had found. He was thankful to them for their benevolence, but still the labourers didn't quite trust him yet.  
  
Terri stared off into the distance, not really taking in the beautiful sight she'd been witness to since her birth, and began to relate the happenings of her day to the quiescent youth next to her. Each day they acted out the same pattern. Tai would wait for the little girl on his chosen perch; she would arrive and proceed to tell him of her day. Then the two of them would watch the sundown together before going inside and washing up for dinner. The routine suited them both, but today Terri's lateness had thrown it out a little, and Tai only half-listened to her speak whilst simultaneously gazing at the sunset stretched out before him.  
  
Eventually, Terri became aware that she didn't possess his undivided attention, and fell silent. She knew how Adam liked to look at the vibrant hues adorning the skyline at nightfall, and was sorry for her tardiness interrupting him. But it hadn't been her fault the school bus got a flat tyre. She'd enjoyed the miniature drama as much as all her classmates, but it hadn't been her fault it had happened.  
  
Comfortable silence extended between them as the glowing orb of the sun played out its daily ballet of colour. Scarlet mixed with blue to become burgundy, then violet, then a deep, rich purple mankind had never been able to capture on fabric. Yellow coursed among its darker cousins, permeating their dim calm with its vivacious strands. Mixed with this came a luxurious red, the colour of winterberries and ladybirds' wings, twining with its golden counterpart to form a delicious orange that covered the skyline like burnished bronze. All these added their individual efforts to become part of the dazzling picture crossing the heavens.  
  
Tai enjoyed sunsets as he'd never enjoyed anything else. Somehow they'd never been his spectacular in the city. Too much pollution, he reasoned. You couldn't see the sky for smog in Tokyo, but here.... here it felt like you could see into Jupiter's garden from your own doorstep. He took a deep breath, inhaling the clement air and savouring the thousands of pleasant scents that filled his nose.  
  
Terri shot a sideways glance at her companion. He sat contentedly with his eyes closed, giving the false impression that he was asleep. She knew, though, that if she were to make even the slightest sound he would hear her and his eyes would snap open once more. It was strange how good his senses were. The little girl was aware of how these odd traits scared the labourers, she'd heard them talking about Adam more than once. They believed he should be sent away, but she was fond of the brown haired youth who'd dropped so unexpectedly into their lives. He was an enigma, wrapped in a mystery. At times he seemed so serious, but then there were many incidents when he would smile that winning smile of his, laugh, and treat her like his little sister. Like the brother she'd never had.  
  
She stared at him for a moment longer, and then broke the silence.  
  
"What are you doing?"  
  
The boy's eyes opened, but he didn't look at her. Instead he simply stared out once more at the attractive sunset, now reaching its end as the night drew in.  
  
"I was just.... listening to the quiet."  
  
"Do you like the quiet?"   
  
A pause. "I've learned to like it." He said eventually.  
  
Terri cocked her head and narrowed her grey eyes at this cryptic answer, not sure what to make of it. Perhaps it was some subconscious inclination to his former life. He often did this - make an enigmatic statement or comment, and then appear unaware as to why he said it. A puzzle indeed. But he was a nice puzzle.  
  
Tai rose languidly from his position. He was leaner now than when he'd first arrived at Pashuda Farm. What was once wasted flesh was now hard muscle and cords of sinew. He moved with an easy fluidity, like that of a cat, coiled muscles rippling with each movement beneath his tanned skin. Yet he didn't share the bulky build of the farm workers. Rather, his was a hidden strength, buried inside his slim adolescent body.  
  
"We'd better be getting back, or else you're mother will be worried."  
  
"She never stops worrying." Terri replied cheekily, but joined him in descending the rock to the ground below. As always, she jumped the last part, and he caught her, swinging her around in a circle, clasped tightly in his newly muscled arms. Terri giggled dizzily when he set her down, and grabbed playfully for his hand to lead her back to the house so that she wouldn't fall over. Tai chuckled; he'd missed the sound of laughter on his long trek, especially that of a young child.  
  
Together, Terri and her surrogate sibling strolled back to their home, having no need to hurry and taking pleasure in each other's company. Behind them, the engorged sun finally took to its bed, and night fell upon the quiet community.  
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Tai struggled against the bonds that held him, biting at the rope around his wrists in a desperate attempt to free himself. In front of him, a grisly scene played out. Screams of agony rang in his ears, mingled with his own cries for the terror to stop. Frantically, he writhed against his fetters, rubbing his skin raw until red blood flowed. He yelled at the top of his lungs, but felt something choking him. Something black and insubstantial forcing its way down his throat, spreading through his veins like acid and burning him from within. He tried to scream, but the thing blocked his airway, and he could only gargle helplessly within his manacles.  
  
Suddenly a voice cut through the searing pain and excruciating shrieks. A gentle voice, incongruous in this hellish place.  
  
"Adam! Adam, wake up! Wake up, Adam!"  
  
Tai sat up with a jolt, sweat pouring down his back and forehead. He blinked blearily as his eyes became accustomed to the darkness around him. Gradually his breathing slowed, and his heart slid down from where it had leaped to his throat, back into his heaving chest once more. A stifling quiet surrounded him, contrasting sharply to the all-too-loud cries he'd heard only moments before.  
  
A pair of soft grey eyes abruptly appeared in front of his own. Terri knelt on the end of his futon, gazing worriedly at him.  
  
"Adam, are you OK?" Tai swallowed - his gullet seemed to have acquired a sizable stone whilst he was asleep - but nodded weakly. Terri's eyes squinted scutinizingly, and it was obvious she didn't believe him. "You had another nightmare, didn't you?" It was a statement, more than a question, but Tai nodded dumbly again.  
  
A nightmare. It had seemed so real, but that was all it had been. Just a nightmare. Yet Tai still had to look down at his hands, to make sure no dark stains adorned the creases as they had done seconds ago. He still felt the warm blood seeping through his fingers, but shook the image away as he returned fully to reality, and the curious child crouched several feet away, staring at him.  
  
"Adam, you really should tell Mom and Dad about this. They can fix things for you."  
  
Fix things? Oh, if only it were that simple. But if he told Terri's parents of his nightly visions he would be forced to tell them what he'd seen, and he wasn't ready to reveal that information to the world just yet. It was simply too lucid, too real, too....familiar to let anyone know.   
  
Tai shook his head. "No, Terri. I'm fine, really. Probably just something I ate."  
  
Terri pursed her lips the way she'd seen her mother do when her father was blatantly lying about something. "You've been having bad dreams for months now! I think you should change your diet, Adam!"   
  
Tai gave a half chuckle. "I think you should go back to bed. You've got school in the morning, and you'll fall asleep on your desk if you don't get some shut-eye." As if to support his point, the small child opened her tiny mouth in a wide yawn. "See what I mean."  
  
"I guess." Terri conceded. She rose and padded over to her bed in the corner. Clambering aboard, she shot back a sleepy comment before burrowing deep under the covers in search of elusive warmth. "Don't worry, Adam. Mom always told me that everything will seem a lot less scary in the morning."   
  
"Sage advice." Tai whispered inaudibly, laying back down himself. The pillow was damp with perspiration, as were the sheets, and Tai tossed uncomfortably. Finally, he kicked off the dank coverlets and lay only in the green pyjama's Mrs. Pashuda had bought him several days ago on a rare shopping trip to the village. Usually all groceries and suchlike were delivered to their door, but the kindly woman had made a special excursion whilst he was out working in the fields. He'd been surprised when he came home to find four neat piles of new garments on the dining-room tabletop, and hadn't been able to thank her enough, nor her husband, for the incredible compassion they'd shown him since they took him in.  
  
Strange, he referred to this place as his home now. He supposed it was. Memories of his old home were fading, helped along by the fact that he never willingly brought them to mind. Yet, as he lay there, the image of a face scurried across his mind's eye. A face that stared at him with gentle hazel eyes, framed by a mop of chestnut hair....  
  
Tai turned over, chasing the effigy from his head with physical movement. He tried to settle himself in this new position, but found he was equally uncomfortable this way. He sighed. Not that he totally regretted his inaptitude to return to slumber. Visions of his dream still haunted him, and he had no wish to see such things again any time soon.  
  
A faint throbbing in his arm caught his attention. He'd been ignoring it all day, but now his bored mind latched onto it as a source of possible interest. He studied the inside of his left arm critically, tracing the slightly raised line of a cut across his wrist. He'd received it today when repairing a damaged fence in the north field. A metal wire had come loose and slashed his arm when he pulled down the old netting, leaving a nasty gash in its wake. Mr. Pashuda had wanted him to go to the hospital to have stitches, but curiously the wound hadn't bled as much as it should have done, considering it was so deep, and hadn't impeded Tai's ability to work in the slightest. In fact, he'd hardly even noticed it was there half the time, remembering only when he heard snatches of conversations between the labourers when they thought he wasn't listening. His injury was the hottest topic on the grapevine, it seemed, and several rumours had already started circulating before he even realised he was the object of so much attention.  
  
Now, Tai himself contemplated the strangeness of his cut, having little else to do in the quiet of the stuffy night. Studying it, he too found it hard to believe how little blood had exited his body this way. It joined as the latest edition to a lengthy list of singularities he'd discovered about himself since coming to live here. It wasn't hard to understand why people were wary of him when he really thought about it. His great strength for one was enough to make you wonder. On a few occasions he'd been able to lift with ease things it usually took three burly men to move, and once he'd even removed a tractor stuck in deep mud single-handed. No wonder the labourers talked.  
  
Tai was also aware of a number of other things about his abilities nobody else knew. He discerned that as well as his strength, both his speed and agility had also improved to near super-human levels. Not that he ever used these talents, but he was conscious of their existence nonetheless. However, coupled with these traits also came many recollections he'd rather have forgotten concerning suspicions as to how he'd acquired them. Tai wasn't a fool. He knew that things like this didn't happen for no reason. But somehow, he believed that if he just didn't explore his talents, then those memories would stay buried and never resurface again in his mind. At least, that was what he wanted to believe.  
  
Terri turned over, a snort escaping as she repositioned herself beneath the covers. Tai's concentration was broken, and he looked away from his damaged wrist, across the small room to where the five-year-old lay. Her chest rose and fell as she slept peacefully, unaware that her roommate was still awake. Tai wished he could have her innocence. To be able to wake up, and face each new day with a smile was something he'd lost the ability to do a long time ago. The hazel-eyed boy nuzzled his face into his pillow in a futile attempt to pacify his discomfort, but his mind remained active and buzzing. He lay in the dark, staring at nothing in particular.  
  
As Tai rested this way, something hideous was awakening. Slowly, a dark presence probed its cage, and - unknown to the boy - a new spark began to feed and burn.  
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"Come on, Adam!" Terri called merrily, swinging the wicker picnic basket in front of her.  
  
"I'm coming!" Tai called back. "Wait up!"   
  
"Slow poke, slow poke, nothing but some bad jokes!" The little girl ran on ahead despite his pleas, laughing. Tai smiled, he could catch her if he tried, but he let her think that she was too fast for him. Slowly he clambered up the hill in her wake, carrying the old tablecloth Mrs. Pashuda had lent them for their picnic under one arm.  
  
Eventually he reached the designated spot. A grassy knoll embedded into the hillside served as a favourite picnic area during the summer, and it was the first time Terri had brought him here. Upon seeing it, he could understand why if was so popular. It provided a view of the surrounding countryside like that of no other, outstripping even his rock outside the farmhouse. Strips of green fields stretched away into the distance, until it seemed they touched the very sky.  
  
Terri stood watching his approach, tapping her foot in mock impatience.  
  
"You took your time!" She wagged her finger at him.  
  
"You're getting very cheeky." Tai replied. She grinned mischievously.  
  
"But you love me anyway. Come on, let's set out all the stuff."  
  
With an easy banter, they proceeded to spread out the tablecloth and retrieve the host of edibles Terri's mother had packed for them that morning. Mr. And Mrs. Pashuda would have accompanied the two youngsters on their outing, but the older woman's sister had suddenly, and quite unexpectedly, been taken ill during the night, and her husband had been forced to drive her to visit in a town fifty miles away. As if to compensate, Mrs. Pashuda had provided Tai and Terri with enough food to feed a small army.  
  
Pasties, rolls, pies, and assortments of other pastries exited the basket, followed by dozens of cakes and sweets. Tai's hazel eyes widened at the veritable feast, saliva already beginning to run inside his mouth.  
  
"Whoa." Was all he could say. Terri extricated a large bottle of carbonated drink from the apparently bottomless basket, looking at him through curious grey eyes.  
  
"What?"  
  
"I've never seen so much food." Tai breathed. "Is this all for us?"  
  
"Of course." Terri seemed surprised he would ask such a question. "Who else would it be for?"  
  
Bees lazily buzzed past as they began their banquet. Tai discovered he had quite a penchant for Mrs. Pashuda's Chocolate cake, and had eaten three pieces before Terri finished the massive pasty she was struggling with. They ate in silence, until Tai sat back patting his stomach.  
  
"Phew, I'm stuffed. I couldn't eat another bite."  
  
"You mean I have to carry all this home again?" Terri groaned through a mouthful of Swiss roll. Tai laughed good-naturedly.  
  
"No, it's my turn to carry the basket now. You don't have to, Terri."  
  
"So you'll be even slower than before, with all that added weight." She giggled. "It'll be dark before we get home with you around."  
  
Tai chuckled, letting her comment slide. He lay back on the comfortable hummock, closing his hazel eyes and bathing in the warm sunlight. Terri's voice caused him to look up again, though, and he opened his eyes to see her gambolling down the hill like a Spring lamb. Her blonde hair streamed out behind her, and several grass stains were already gracing her denim dungarees.   
  
"Adam, look! Look at me!"  
  
"You watch yourself!" He called indolently. "Don't fall!"  
  
"I won't." She yelled back. "See, I'm a plane. Neeeee-yow!" The little girl spread her arms wide and ran around, shrieking wildly in her impression of a jet engine.   
  
"You'll throw-up with all you've eaten." He warned her. Terri just tossed her head at such a suggestion.  
  
"Nah. Stomach of steel. That's what Dad calls me anyway."  
  
"I thought it was 'Human Dustbin'." Tai returned, but she didn't appear to have heard him.   
  
He lay back again, savouring the quiet, which was interposed intermittently only by Terri's happy laughter. He sighed, revelling in the contented feeling spreading inside him. He doubted whether he'd ever felt happier in his life. An insect crawled across his hands, which were crossed behind his head in a makeshift pillow, but even this minor irritation didn't alleviate the intense feeling of contentment filling the day. He felt rather drowsy. Sleep had evaded him completely for several nights now, and when his psyche did reside into slumber he was plagued by countless nightmares that made him wake up breathless, skin slick with sweat. Now though, he was sure that nothing could ruin this perfect moment, not even the horrific visions that haunted his unconscious mind.  
  
Tai listened to the natural lullaby assaulting his willing ears. The faint shush of the breeze rustling the long grass stems around him. Terri's joyous laughter as she attempted a cartwheel she'd been practising at school this week. His own breathing, steady and rhythmic. Far away, a bell-tower chimed the changing of the hour. One chime. Two. Three. Four. Four chimes. Four o' clock in the afternoon, he surmised. Mr. And Mrs. Pashuda should be at her sister's by now. They wouldn't be coming home until tomorrow, but true to form, the motherly woman had left a stack of food for their supper back at the farmhouse. Not that he could eat anything else after that feast in the picnic basket. The teenager's mind wandered as he slowly fell back into happy sleep.  
  
He became aware of a sharp tugging on the fringes of his mind. A niggling sensation, like when you've forgotten to do something, but can't remember what it was. Except, this tugging didn't go away when he tried to ignore it, instead becoming slightly stronger as he did so. Tai's eyebrows furrowed, what had he forgotten? But nothing came to him, and he tried once more to push the odd feeling away. Stubbornly it remained, gnawing at his brain like a flea on a dog's hide.   
  
A sudden shooting pain lanced through Tai's chest. He gasped at the abrupt intensity of it. His body endeavoured to sit up, but another sharp pain stabbed through him, causing him to fall back inadvertently. What was going on? Tai's hazel eyes opened worriedly and he stared at the sky. Something at the back of his mind told him this was more than simple heartburn, but something else was suffocating this sensible voice. He felt woozy, as if he'd just got off a fairground ride and hadn't quite regained his balance yet.  
  
A cold knot of fear was forming in the pit of his stomach, and he hastily rolled over onto his hands and knees in an effort to rise. However, this only served to make him feel worse as a wave of nausea swept through him. His muscles trembled, but he pushed himself up into a kneeling position. Another shooting pain pierced his heart, and he clutched helplessly at his chest. This was all too familiar, and the brown-haired youth struggled to beat down what he suspected was coming.  
  
A ring of darkness surrounded his field of vision, and a second tide of queasiness bubbled inside Tai's gut. He clapped a hand over his mouth, squeezing his hazel eyes shut as he fought the darkness threatening to consume his sight. There was no doubt about it now. It was just the same as before, in Tokyo. Tai groaned as a stinging sensation clamped around his brain, preventing him from fighting the blackness he now sensed appearing inside his head.  
  
The entity within Tai had been clever. It had known its power was spent in that alley all those months ago, and had gone into hiding as it were, concealing itself inside its host whilst exerting its influence in secret. It had lulled the boy into a false sense of security, leaving him to ponder over his new inexplicable physical abilities, whilst it attacked the barriers around his psyche. As Tai strengthened his body, his mind's defences had become weak, until all the entity needed was a single opening to rush in and exert its newly restored power over him. One moment of weakness, when he let his guard down. A moment of true emotion.  
  
That moment had come.  
  
Tai gagged, bile rising in the back of his throat. He felt his senses slipping away from him. First smell, then voice, then touch. The grass no longer seemed springy and soft beneath him, because he couldn't feel it. The air wasn't sweet and fragrant. The ring around his vision closed in, filling his sight with numbing blackness.  
  
Tai's body turned, rising as the entity took control of it. Tai sensed the elongation of his canines into iniquitous fangs, and a red haze covered what was left of his sight. He knew his irises were darkening, becoming blood red as they cast about him. Talons shot out of his fingertips, dripping red fluid as they burst from his yielding flesh. Mentally, Tai screamed, but could do nothing. He was powerless to stop what was happening, and slipped more and more from his grip with every passing second.  
  
Suddenly, a sound came to his ears. Even as his hearing was stripped away from him, Tai recognised that noise, and it chilled what was left of him to the bone.  
  
"Adam? Adam, are you OK?" Terri asked. Tai's eyes rested on her small form, making her way back up the hill towards him.  
  
No, Terri! Don't come near me! Stay away! Tai screamed inside, but she couldn't hear him, and came gamely on. The entity curled Tai's lips into a cruel smile, raising one of his clawed hands in a gesture of welcome. Terri appeared heartened by this, unable to see the talons from where she was, and began to jog. No! Terri! Tai yelled impotently from within. Terri raised her hand to take his, her face smiling. The entity smiled too. A knowing, malicious smile.  
  
The little girl didn't stand a chance. The bolt of darkness struck her when she was still several feet away, running her through completely. Her grey eyes widened in shock, before she fell forward onto the grass. With the last of his sight, Tai saw a red mark spreading around her, emanating from her chest.  
  
TERRI! NOOOOOOOOO!   
  
And then there was only blackness.  
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When Tai awoke he was lying face down on something soft. Strands of something ticklish brushed against his cheek and nose, causing him to sneeze violently. With this inadvertent exhalation, the realization that his body was once more his own came to him, and he jerked himself upright.  
  
Before him lay his grisly pillow. A rabbit, its head torn off and lying a few feet away. The blood encrusting its ripped neck was crystalline. Old. He wondered how long he'd been lying there. Tipping his head, he looked up at the sky. It was dark. Sunset had already passed into night.  
  
Sunset....  
  
Terri!  
  
Tai struggled to his feet, swaying unsteadily. A crowd of random images filled his confused mind, but one name resonated through them all like a knell. Terri. He glanced around uncertainly, not recognising this place. Small clumps of sparse trees shot out of the ground at odd angles around him. Several had braches hanging off them at crazy angles; others wore the blackened marks of burning like war scars. Tai gazed at them.  
  
Did I do this?  
  
A few metres away, a corpse of some unidentifiable animal lay. Its back was twisted at an impossible angle, flesh charred so badly that it was impossible to truly tell what it used to be. The stench of burning meat hung in the air like a sickening fog, hours old but no less repellent.  
  
The desolate copse gave no indication as to his location. He could have been miles from the picnic area, and would be none the wiser. Tai jerked his head around in all directions, searching desperately for some hint as to where he was.  
  
Suddenly a scent came to him. His near-superhuman senses picked up on the faint aroma where others couldn't, and his brain recognized it instantly (although how was a mystery.) Blood. Human blood. The youth's head snapped around to catch a second whiff of the telling odour. It was riding on a small breeze to his left, and before he knew what he was doing, he took off in that direction in mad flight.  
  
The night was deathly quiet around him, not even the usual scufflings of nocturnal animals breaking the intense silence. Tai's feet, thudding against the turf, was the only sound abroad that night, everything else having the sense to remain out of sight. He ran on, trusting to luck and his improved senses to guide him. Like a wolf, his loping stride ate up the ground at an astronomical rate, and in virtually no time at all he'd reached his destination.  
  
The picnic area was almost completely destroyed. Huge chunks of earth had been gouged out of the hillock, craters where there shouldn't be craters peppering the charred landscape. Everything was burned, and the vague smell of smoke filled the atmosphere. Tai coughed at the pungent attack, his sensitive nose smelling the faint aroma like it was new. He ran on, into the wreckage itself, calling.  
  
"Terri? Terri?"  
  
No answer.   
  
"Terri, where are you? Come on, this isn't the time to be playing games!" Tai shouted. He knew she was here, he could smell her. His cloudy mind refused to tell him what had happened when the entity took over, but his nose clearly informed him of her presence nearby. Yet, there was something odd about her fragrance. Something he couldn't quite place....  
  
The brown haired boy went on, calling intermittently the name of his adopted sibling. Even though it was dark he could see by the pallid light of the moon above him, and quested onwards beneath her apathetic gaze.  
  
"Terri! Terri?" His voice floated among the mountains of debris like a lost soul, searching for a home. "Terri. Come out, this isn't funny anymore."  
  
As he crested a particularly high pile of soil and rock Tai finally saw her; lying where she'd fallen, a red mark dying what was left of the grass around her small form. Her face was hidden by masses of blonde hair which had fanned out over her tiny skull like a mutated halo, also tainted by the same dark blotches staining her clothes.  
  
"TERRI!" Tai yelled anguishedly, stumbling down the unstable mass of rubble towards her. She didn't move at the sound of his voice, and he rushed to her side, calling her name at the top of his lungs.  
  
The dirt-encrusted teenager knelt at the little girl's side and gently picked her up in his arms. The sensible voice in his head warned him he shouldn't move her, that he may be doing more harm then good, but as he gazed upon her pale and blood streaked visage he knew in his heart that she was dead. Tears began to leak from his hazel eyes, dripping off the end of his nose and splashing harmlessly into the muck.   
  
Why?   
  
Why? Why? Why?   
  
She hadn't done anything. Why did this have to happen to her? All she'd done was offer him warmth and friendship when he needed it most. All she'd done was welcome him into her home - into her heart.  
  
All he'd done was kill her.  
  
The veil lifted from his memory, and Tai suddenly saw with perfect, ghastly clarity what he'd seen with his last sight when the entity stole his body from him. He saw Terri's happy, grinning face as she ran to take his hand. Then the bolt of darkness streaking towards and through her. He saw her fall, blood seeping from the wound he'd inflicted.   
  
Tai tilted his bronzed face to the sky and howled. Not the roaring battle cry he'd released as the monster controlled by the dark entity, but a raw, agonized screech, which ripped from his lungs like the worst scream in hell. Wetness coursed down his cheeks as he mourned for the little girl whose life he'd taken. The child who'd shown him such innocent compassion, only to be brutally murdered by his hands.  
  
Still with salty tears sliding down his face, Tai looked down at Terri. At the delicate features which had always exuded such love, such happiness, such.... life. Her grey eyes were open and staring, a driblet of dried blood tracing a line between them from a cut on her forehead. A cut that was oddly shaped, yet partially hidden by the dried blood caked around it. If Tai had looked more closely, he would have seen his crest carved into her flesh as if with a blade. Gently, Tai reached out one hand and closed her eyelids, rendering her to all intents asleep. He half expected her to suddenly awaken, to throw her arms around him, hug him and tell him it had all been a dream. Just some terrible nightmare created by his feverish brain.  
  
But Tai knew that this was no nightmare. This was real. Much more real then he was willing to accept. Terri's body felt cold and stiff in his arms, and a soft breeze blew strands of golden hair across her face.  
  
She looks like an angel, his delirious brain thought. So innocent and peaceful.   
  
Except for the blood.  
  
Suddenly, Tai's fragile mind broke. Shattered by grief and guilt so intense it burned his soul; he rose, clutching the cold corpse to his chest. He couldn't bear it, out here on this desolate hilltop. He needed to get her to help. His splintered mind seemed to disregard the blatant fact that Terri was beyond medical assistance; such was its tattered mental state.   
  
He ran. Ran at such a speed as has never been reached by any human before. Ran with strength given him by his dark parasite. Ran with sorrow for his surrogate sister. Ran on and on into the night, never stopping, never stalling. Tai's powerful legs leaped tens of metres in a single bound, and in but a few minutes he'd covered the immense distance between the destroyed knoll and Pashuda Farm.  
  
He passed the watching rock - an indistinct shape in the darkness - not even acknowledging its presence. Get her inside. Call the doctor. Do something useful. These mantras echoed inside his head like a demonic choir, urging him onward with their nightmarish voices. Repair the damage you've done, Tai. Adam. Monster.  
  
Thunder rumbled overhead from a huge storm cloud rolling across the sky. Spots of rain appeared on the ground, splattering harshly against the grass stems. One hit Tai in the corner of his eye, and he blinked, momentarily blinded. Deprived of his eyes, his feet stumbled, tripping over themselves in their haste and sending him sprawling. The youth struck the ground hard, precious cargo flying from his arms on impact. He grunted as the pocket of air was crushed from his body, immediately struggling to right himself. As his head rose, his vision once more rested on Terri's body.  
  
She'd landed on the patio, a trail of blood from a reopened wound signalling where she'd rolled across the slabs. Her body was twisted, one arm at a gruesome angle above her head. Her eyes had opened a sliver, and they stared at him blankly, devoid of their usual spark. Steely instead of soft grey. Cold. Accusing.   
  
Dead.  
  
Tai gazed at her, realization permeating his fuddled brain once more. She was dead. No doctor on earth could save her now. The dark entity had killed her. He'd killed her.  
  
The rain began to fall more heavily, and the sky growled its pent up fury like a caged animal. Tai rose, water trickling down his face, but making no effort to wipe it away. Slowly he crossed the concrete and gathered Terri up in his strong arms. Kicking the door to the farmhouse open, he carried her inside, ignoring the high squeal of the frame as it splintered beneath his foot. Dripping water, he walked soberly through the house he'd come to call home.  
  
He'd intended to take the small child to her bedroom. To lay her on her bed and cover her red streaked face with a sheet like he'd seen paramedics do on television. However, to reach the bedrooms in the single story house, he first had to pass through the kitchen. His feet made a wet slapping as they travelled across the tiles of the kitchen floor, and the rain beat relentlessly against the window. Tai's attention was fleetingly caught by the storm, which had so abruptly sprung up as if from nowhere, and his eyes fell upon the kitchen knives Mrs. Pashuda kept in a block on the counter. His grief stricken mind then acted out the only coherent thought it could find.  
  
Placing Terri's delicate form lovingly on her bed, Tai reverently pulled up the sheet to enshroud her completely. But before he did so, the brown haired boy leaned down and planted a brotherly kiss upon her cold forehead.  
  
"I love you, Little Angel." He whispered; using the nickname he'd created for her the day she found him. His only answer was the sound of raindrops battering the bedroom window, and he swiftly pulled the white sheet over her visage, tucking it in and heading for the doorway. "I'll make things right."  
  
Tai stalked determinedly back to the kitchen. Without hesitation, he pulled the largest of the knives from the block, turned it around, and plunged it deep into his chest.  
  
He didn't cry out in pain. He wouldn't let himself. This was his punishment. It was right for him to die.   
  
But he didn't die. He bled, he hurt, he fell to his knees, but he didn't die. The steel blade rubbed against his lungs as he breathed in and out, causing untold amounts of agony to course through his thin body. He could feel it, crushing and slicing at his internal organs, piercing his heart with its wicked tip. Yet he remained alive. The urge to scream filled every pore of his being, but he bit his lip until blood flowed to hold it in. He could sense the red juices leaking from his inner wounds, but curiously he remained conscious.  
  
Tai's head spun, and he fell forward onto his hands and knees. The knife's black handle still protruded from his chest, and crimson fluid welled around it to drip liberally onto the floor. Desperately he pushed it further in with one trembling hand, but only served to make himself lose his balance and tumble into an ungainly heap on his side.  
  
Cold insight slammed into him like a freight train, as months of suspicion were finally confirmed in a moment of agony. Fresh tears slid down Tai's dirty face.  
  
He couldn't die.  
  
It wouldn't let him die.  
  
The entity was somehow keeping him alive where a normal human would have perished. Why else had he survived so long where others would not? How else had he made the terrible journey from Tokyo the way he did without unnatural assistance? Tai remembered the unbearable frosty nights. By rights he should have died from frostbite or exposure, or at least starvation. But no, because he wasn't human.  
  
Wasn't human.  
  
The phrase whirled inside of his head. He wasn't human. He was a monster.  
  
Tai Kamiya had died the night he murdered his parents. In that same terrible moment, a demon had been created. A demon, which wore his face, but was ultimately evil. A monster in the truest sense of the word. For a while it had disguised itself as Adam, the amnesia stricken boy found by the roadside. Yet it was still the same beast lurking beneath the surface. Waiting to strike.  
  
The brown haired boy reached up and yanked the long knife from his body. Scarlet blood splattered across the tiled floor as it slid out of the wound, producing a pool of vital fluid, which leaked into the dusty cracks. With a dogged persistence to right things, the youth heaved himself to his feet, tottering slightly from loss of blood. The knife clattered to the ground when he fell against the counter for support, leaving dark smears across the marbled surface as he stumbled towards the open door.  
  
He couldn't stay. Not after what he'd done. Adam was dead, just like the one known as Tai. Both had murdered those closest to them. Neither could ever be allowed to return, lest the same thing happened again.  
  
The boy tumbled out of the aperture, and not allowing himself to be halted by this, crawled away as fast as he could on his bloodied hands and knees into the all-consuming blackness. As the rain slashed his face like a curtain of needles, the tanned figure disappeared once more into the comforting darkness of night. Just as he'd done before. Just as he would do again.  
  
Cleansing rainwater unsympathetically washed away the red trail left by his bleeding body, effectively removing all trace of his departure. Nobody would be able to tell where he'd gone, which was just as he wanted. If he was to remain alive, then he wished never again to touch the lives of others. A shadow forever. A watching spirit.  
___________________  
  
There are tales among the countrymen. Sad tales. Bad tales. Tales of woe and murder. Crouched over the fires of cold nights, with naught to do but tell stories, these tales have woven themselves into their very culture and folklore.  
  
A favourite rumour of the moment is one of the boy with no name. He comes with no past, and leaves with no future, riding on the back of a great, dark spirit - or so the tale goes. There are some men who know of the core of truth beneath the stories. Of the poor youth found in the open by caring people, who shelters with families and individuals alike when they let him in. Some claim to have seen him, and to have looked into his sorrowful hazel eyes themselves. But these men are few and far between. Most don't believe the tales of the boy with no name, using it only as a bedtime threat for small children. "Go to bed, quickly, or the boy with no name will get you, and set his spirit to burn the sun into your hide."   
  
Yet one thing remains constant. Through all the false stories, it is an unwritten rule among the country folk, that you should never shelter a boy with brown hair if you find him half-dead in a field. Shut your doors, bolt your windows, or he'll come creeping out of the shadows to peer into your house at your children, longing etched into his bronzed face. He may seem sad and pitiful, but he's still a monster. Don't let him in, whatever the cost. Drive him away with sticks if you must, but don't let him into your home.  
  
There are tales among the countrymen. Sad tales. Bad tales. Tales of woe and murder.  
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AUTHOR'S NOTES: Yes, I know this didn't progress the story much, but it was created as an explanatory chapter. The two parts of "Shattered Moments" were meant to be set out like human memory i.e. not giving up memories in a chronological fashion, and I originally wrote them as such in one large chunk. However, I thought it would be easier to understand the passage of time if I split it up in this way. Obviously I was wrong if one e-mail I received from an unknown source is to be believed. If that person is reading this then I won't stoop to your level of insults, but I want you to know that some of the things you said really hurt me. I've worked my ass off on this fic, and - no kidding - it's drained me both physically and emotionally. If you want to say anything else like that then I suggest you write it all down, roll it up into a ball and shove it up your.... but I digress. Sorry, but I really needed to get that off my chest. If anyone else has any problems with me continuing this fic then please write them in a review and I'll stop posting right away.  
  
Thanx.  
  
Scribbler :- 


	10. Chapter Nine ~ Dancing Shadows

DISCLAIMER: Digimon is not mine; it belongs to Toei, Saban and Bandai respectfully. This fic is created merely for pleasure and not financial gain, plus I'm dirt-poor so there's no useful aspect of suing me I'm afraid. If anyone tries to steal this story then I shall come round to your house (and believe me, I'll find out where you live!) and bash you over the head with a copy of Harry Potter! And that there is one mighty heavy book!  
Blurbish taken care of, here is the latest chapter in the ongoing saga sprung from my warped imagination. Enjoy!  
___________________  
  
"The Darkness Within" By Scribbler  
Chapter Nine ~ "Dancing Shadows"  
___________________  
  
"Tout comprendre c'est tout pardoner. (To understand everything is to forgive everything.)" - French Proverb.  
___________________  
  
The Digidestined stood motionlessly in Sora's bedroom. None of them uttered a single syllable, as the fine green mist surrounding their senses released them from its ethereal embrace. Time stood still as what they'd just witnessed sank into their minds.  
  
Abruptly, the spell was broken, as Joe let out a strangled groan and pushed his way roughly through his comrades to rush to the bathroom. Blinking slightly, his friends peeled back to let him through the crowd, and soon the sounds of retching were heard behind the closed door. This veritable noise snapped each member of the mass from his or her wispy thoughts, and they fall back to reality with an almost physical bump.  
  
Kari collapsed against TK in tears, but he didn't respond, too numb with shock at what he'd seen. At what they'd all seen. Tai lat stretched across the rumpled bed, unconscious, and the blonde youth stared at the older boy's prone form, fighting back his own urge to vomit.  
  
Suddenly, there was a cry from Cody that caused almost everyone to turn around.  
  
"Izzy!"   
  
The red haired youth was slumped against his neo counterpart, eyes closed, face pale and drawn. Apparently invoking the power of his long-dormant crest had been too much for him, and unconsciousness had claimed him the moment they returned. As if in a dream, Matt stepped forward and pulled his friend off the younger boy, laying him down on the plush carpet. He checked Izzy's pulse as he'd been taught to do in School, finding it rapid but strong beneath his skin. He glanced up at Cody, who looked a little woozy, but ultimately fine - having had to give less of his strength than Izzy to take them into Tai's memories.  
  
Tai's memories.  
  
Alone of all the youngsters, Sora did not look at the fallen technophile. Her gaze was riveted to the figure sprawled across her bed. Her hazel eyes shed no tears. Tears were not enough to communicate how she felt at that moment. Her heart seemed dead in her chest, the warm feeling which had graced her being absent and lacking. Fleetingly her eyes darted to the clock on the wall. 1:47am. It had been approximately two minutes since Izzy used the power of his crest to show them....to show them....  
  
She fell to her knees, forced there by the recollection of what she'd viewed only moments ago. Her hands were limp, and the mug of hot coffee slipped from them to spill across the rug. Now that she knew what had happened to Tai she grieved. She grieved for all he'd suffered, all he'd been forced to endure, all the darkness had put him through.  
  
All she'd put him through.  
  
Despite all the horrific images assaulting her brain, one of those disjointed memories burned brighter than the rest. She remembered that day at Matt's concert too. If she tried hard enough she fancied she could still feel the warmth of the cookies through the box in her hands. She'd been so scared that day. Scared of hurting him. Scared of confronting Matt. Scared of making the wrong decision. Her mind had been a confused mess of mixed up emotions, not knowing which way to turn, until finally she chose the road less travelled. The road her head had deemed right, but her heart had screamed....  
  
"Sora, are you OK?" Matt's voice cut into her thoughts like the knife that had pierced Tai's breast. Her head snapped round to look at him, and locked with his startling blue spheres. Worry shone clearly in her boyfriend's gaze, combined with the intense shock that was mirrored in her own. Sora didn't answer. Couldn't. Emotion caught in her gullet, choking the words there.  
  
Kari babbled incessantly, pressing her face into TK's shirt.  
  
"It's my fault. It's all my fault. He.... he was trying to save me.... The battle with Parrotmon.... Greymon.... That darkness was meant for me, not him! Oh, Tai. Tai!" She snivelled. "What have I done to you? What have I caused, Tai?"  
  
Sora's throat felt dry, like she hadn't drunk anything for weeks, but inadvertently a few curt words slipped out.  
  
"It's not your fault, Kari." She croaked. If anything it's mine. I didn't know how he felt. I didn't know....  
  
"Yes it is!" Kari practically spat, her voice brimming with guilt and self-loathing. "I'm the Child of Light. It was me the darkness was after when the Digimon first came to the real world. Tai was trying to protect me! I... I let this happen to him!"  
  
Sora felt drained. She wanted to argue. She wanted nothing more than to stand up and scream at the crying girl, to vent her fury on the nearest available target, but her body - and mind - were just to weak to do anything of the sort. Her shoulders slumped, and she dipped her head in defeat, but another husky voice perforated Kari's sobs in her stead.  
  
"No. This wasn't your fault, Kari." Cody stepped forward, and Kari raised her head at his approach. "Tai did what he did because he chose to, not because you made him. He did it because he loves you."  
  
"B.... but...." Kari began. The determined little boy shook his head.  
  
"No. No buts. You have to realise what I have, Kari. That sometimes things happen which you have no control over. You can blame yourself for the rest of your life, and it won't change anything. Better to just pick up the pieces and try to fix things then cry over what you can't alter with tears."  
  
Kari stared at him. "If I hadn't run away from Agumon...." She whispered, half defending her cause.  
  
"Hey, you were a little kid." TK found his voice at last, soothing her with kind words. "You did what any of us would have done in that situation at that age."  
  
"You can't change human nature." Cody asserted, crossing his arms across his slender chest as if to emphasize his point.  
  
Kari sniffed, tears still trickling down her cheeks. "I guess...."  
  
TK encircled her with his arms, drawing the weeping Digidestined into his warm embrace. "I know."  
  
The sound of the toilet flushing echoed through the apartment, and Joe reappeared with a distinct greenish tinge to his cheeks. Matt noted his return with a vague nod, before transferring his own attention back to Sora.  
  
"Sora, can you stand?" Dumbly, she nodded - if a tad uncertainly. The blonde boy slid his arm around hers, using himself as a support to lever her slight body upright. The chestnut haired girl stumbled against him, grabbing his arm to stop herself from falling, then dropping it again with atypical tentativeness. Matt looked at her, misgiving manifesting itself in his gut at the expression stamped across her delicate features. After all, they'd all seen and felt the same things....  
  
A faint groan floated from the bed, causing everyone's heads to jerk around as if on string. Sora's visage contracted into a mask of consternation, and she broke away from Matt's hold to stagger across the room. Her knees gave way only centimetres from her destination, and she fell against the bed, hauling herself up bodily to perch on the edge of the bedclothes.  
  
"Tai? Tai?" She whispered. The entire room held its breath as the brown haired boy moved beneath the sheets covering him. Because of the way he'd fallen, his sweater had ridden up, exposing a vast amount of tanned skin. However, as he shifted now, an incongruous white mark became visible in the very centre of his chest. A pale line, slightly raised, located above his heart. Sora recognised it as scar tissue, and her eyes burned at the memory of how it had been inflicted. It was as if she had not only viewed events as an outsider, but also lived them herself. Every smile, every pain, every thought permeated Sora as if her own.  
  
Tai's eyelids slid open, and he gazed unfocusedly at her. As his vision cleared and he discerned her form for what it truly was, he sat bolt upright in alarm. His hazel eyes cast about in terror at the other Digidestined gathered around him, widening more and more as they rested upon each familiar face. His comrades stared back at him, unconcealed sympathy and hope buried in their eyes. Tai couldn't understand these expressions, and tried to leap out of the bed for the window.  
  
Sora recognised what he was about to do, and reflexively jutted out her good arm to catch his in a vice-like grip. All her remaining strength flowed into keeping a hold of the youth's flailing wrist, as he struggled to free himself without hurting her.  
  
"Let me go! Let me go!" He ordered hopelessly. "You have to let me go! Before its too late!"  
  
"Tai...." Sora started, but his anxious cries halted her mid sentence.  
  
"Please, you don't understand. I have to go! I can't stay here, it's too dangerous!"  
  
"Tai, we know!" Sora shouted, silencing him in a way nobody could have thought possible. His entire abruptly body froze at the conviction in her tone, and slowly he turned two miserable hazel orbs upon her pale face. The expression in those wretched pools of colour was one of fear, yet questioning. Without uttering a syllable he spoke a thousand words, yet there remained a thread of terror at her unexpected declaration. Terror at being discovered, at his darkest secrets being laid out like a rotting carcass upon a gamekeeper's gibbet, fodder for magpies to pick at. Terror of her knowing who he was instead of whom she thought she knew.  
  
Sora's voice fell to a low murmur, as she gazed deeply into those spheres of untold pain and melancholy that she'd missed for so long.   
  
"We know everything."  
  
Eternity ground to a halt. Time stopped. The entire world shrank to the size of a bedroom in a Tokyo suburb, and then to a pair of sorrowful hazel eyes. Whose? It was unclear, such was the mute connection suddenly forged between the two locked pairs of eyelets at these three simple words. A trio of letter-collections used millions of times each day for trivial purposes, but now endowed with such meaning it made the mind boggle to even attempt to comprehend the enormity of it. For a few priceless seconds they gazed into each other, nay, through each other into the connotations behind those three utterances.   
  
A bead of moisture materialized in the corner of one hazel eye, then sliced its way down the bearer's gaunt cheek. A choked sob followed soon after, and the solitary teardrop dripped from the quivering flesh in a poignant display of relinquished barriers. Of walls being torn down in the gentle face of knowledge.... and understanding.  
  
Tai sagged against the benign girl sitting before him. She opened her arms in a gesture of compassion, enveloping his thin, juddering body in an embrace she'd wanted to give him for almost a year. The onlookers breathed a near-audible sigh of relief at these actions. Tai had accepted the offer of compassion held out to him, consummating it with the tactile action now enacted in front of them.  
  
Violent sobs wracked Tai's frail frame, yet they were tinged with joy and relief. She knew. They knew of the terrible events in his past, yet they didn't care. He had seen it in her eyes; in that moment of understanding so intense it would have destroyed a lesser soul with its touch. They'd forgiven him. She'd forgiven him.  
  
"I'm.... sorry." He babbled haltingly. "I'm so.... so.... sorry."  
  
"Shhh." Sora caressed his back like a mother soothing a weeping child. "It's OK. It's alright."  
  
"I never meant to hurt anyone." The erstwhile inconsolable teenager continued, gulping intermittently. "I tried to.... to make things right, but I couldn't. It wouldn't let me. Then it kept happening.... over and over again.... and I couldn't stop it. I.... I went from village to village; hoping each time, thinking this one would be different.... This time it won't happen, but it did. They drove me away in the end.... Threw stones at me to make me go.... I was.... I was so lonely. That was the only thing that didn't spark it off.... loneliness.... but I couldn't bear it! I couldn't! So I came here.... To Tokyo.... I'm sorry, I never meant to cause so much grief and loss. I never..." His words disintegrated into meaningless sobs, and Sora rubbed his spine whilst at the same time rocking him back and forth, his head resting on her shoulder.  
  
Tai's anguished suppurating cleaved through the hearts of all who heard him. The Digidestined felt his pain like it was their own, yet none more so than one person....  
  
A warm sensation began above this individual's stomach, spreading like a drug through the yielding system stretched before it. The person supped upon this feeling, tasting its wonder but not fully understanding its presence or meaning.   
  
Suddenly, Tai froze. Sora felt him stiffen beneath her fingers.  
  
"Tai?"  
  
"It's.... it's coming." He said hoarsely. "I can feel it.... trying to get out."  
  
Sora's voice was no more than a whisper, but all assembled heard what she said as if she'd shouted it from the tallest rooftop in the city.  
  
"Fight it, Tai. Fight it!"  
  
Tai trembled, afraid of what was coming yet ashamed of his fear in front of his comrades. "I.... can't." He whispered tensely.  
  
Sora lifted her face from his shoulder and held him at arm's length, forcing him to do the same with his face. She looked intently into his mournful hazel eyes; her own filled with assurance in his capabilities. Imparted strength flowed along her gaze to permeate his frightened stare, showing him rather than telling him what she meant. This time he wouldn't be alone in his struggle. This time he would have friends by his side. This time she would stand with him in his battle.  
  
Tai returned her gaze, fear still evident in those sparkling hazel spheres, yet mixed with a gratitude words could not begin to express. Not only had they forgiven him, they were also lending their power in his clash with the dark entity which had dictated his life for so long. Thankfulness the likes of which the world has never known reverberated inside that small bedroom, and with a sharp intake of breath, one of the fiercest battles the world had ever witnessed began.  
  
Tai's mind set up a barricade of mental barriers against the darkness seeking to breach his psyche. The tendrils of murk slammed against these walls with unimaginable force, snarling their repugnance at being denied access to their playground. Tai physically shuddered as it rammed his defences again and again, hoping to overcome these obstructions by force alone. Stinging agony seared his mind as the entity struck him, each new strike earning an involuntary tremble from his body. He clapped his hands over his ears, clutching at his skull and tearing his hair in pain.  
  
Sora leaned forward. "Come on, Tai. You can do it, I know you can! I believe in you!"  
  
A pair of ample hazel eyes looked at her, as two separate beings gazed at the chestnut haired girl offering her support to the boy sat before her in his fight. One of them took heart from her close proximity, the other rumbled in fury at her intangible aid. These two warred with each other, clashing tumultuously beneath the surface.   
  
Again and again the entity lashed out at the thick shields Tai's gratitude had created, denting them with every new hit. Yet still they held, keeping Tai's tattered mind free from its violator presence. The Digidestined watched keenly as this silent combat was waged, willing their own strength into their leader as a supporting mass. Tai could almost feel them, sending wave after wave of strength to him, and he revelled in the emotions he hadn't been allowed to feel for so long, using them against the darkness which had made him a prisoner in his own body.  
  
Hope.  
  
Comradeship.  
  
Support.  
  
The darkness hissed as it was forced back. It struck at the strange energy defending the boy's mind, but its efforts were like a gnat taking on a lion, utterly useless. Back, back, and further back, until it could no longer see its goal, much less reach it, and found itself clinging onto its position inside Tai by otherworldly fingertips. A ghastly roar permeated his being, causing him to physically grit his teeth and ball his hands into fists. It was agony. Purely and simply, the worst kind of torture a soul could endure without shattering. Tai hovered dangerously close to the edge, rags of his mind teetering on the brink of oblivion. This void seemed to suck at him, drawing him down into its depths where the darkness waited to claim him once more and for all eternity. Mentally he yelped, as he sensed his barriers cracking against this insurmountable force. He was losing. He was going under.  
  
Suddenly he felt someone grab him. Tai swivelled his anguished gaze at the slender hand clasped desperately in his own, delicate fingers intertwined with his. Sora squeezed it, retrieving him from the void by reminding him of his physical body. Touch. It dragged his senses from the maelstrom of mental fury they were embroiled in, focusing him once again at the ultimate task at hand.  
  
"I'm here, Tai!" She shouted, breaking through the darkness' hold with another ally - sound. "I'm right beside you. You can do it!"  
  
Sora....?  
  
"Sora...." He croaked. The entity slashed at the images bubbling up within him, trying to dissipate the memories her voice brought forth. But it was too late. Pictures of her face infused Tai's sickly brain. Sora when they were little kids, splashing in the paddling pool at a friend's birthday party. Sora playing against him in soccer, her mouth set in a grim line as she concentrated on the ball at her feet. Sora in the Digital World, strapped down to Datamon's copying machine, calling to him. Sora at Matt's concert, clutching a box of cookies in her hands. Sora through her balcony window, staring at him with disbelief. Sora....  
  
A new resolve filled Tai, rolling forward like a tidal wave to slam against the entity so that it howled in pain, its grip on his mind becoming tenuous. But it wasn't enough. He wanted it out. He wanted to return to those hazel eyes, emancipated from the darkness that enshrouded him. He wanted to be free.  
  
The entity screamed as a bolt of passion lanced through it. Tai screamed too, linked as he was to the pain-wracked core of darkness. A physical scream, which ripped from his lungs like hellfire burning his throat. Tears coursed unbidden down his face, a tangible symbol of his mental agony. The tsunami of power surged from his psyche, pushing at the darkness with everything he had. It yelled, he yelled. It cried, he cried. It hurt, he hurt. But still he kept hitting it, prying it from its unsolicited roost. Gradually it began to lose its grip.  
  
Tai felt as though he were on fire. Every pore in his body shrieked. His cells parted, as he felt he was literally ripping apart. He wept like a child, sobbing at the agony he was forced to endure; yet smiling at the relief coursing through his veins as the darkness began to leave him.  
  
The Digidestined children watched with round eyes as Tai's entire body emitted a strange shadow, which clung to his skin like a swirling mist. The brown haired youth was almost completely lost from view as this pitch fog surrounded him, his cries the only indication he was still there.   
  
Yet Sora remained firm. She clasped Tai's hand tighter, refusing to release it, to relinquish him to the darkness. The shadow crept down Tai's arm, stinging her fingers as it touched her skin, but still she wouldn't let go. Wouldn't leave him. It hissed at her, unconcealed hatred slithering from lips that weren't there. Sora wrung the boy's palm, letting him know that she was close at hand. That she wouldn't leave him alone again.  
  
The darkness squealed as the combined force of Tai's resolve coupled with Sora's touch yanked it away from its vessel. A high pitched screech filled the room, as the entity leaked out of the exit they forced it through, pooling on the floor in an oily black puddle, hissing and spitting with all the wrath of Hades. Tai gasped as the last particle of blackness dripped from his being, sudden freedom washing over him; an overwhelming swell of autonomy. Sora gasped too, feeling his liberation as if it were her own, linked by the victory they shared.   
  
The Digidestined let out a collective sigh. They too sensed the relief of their friend, although not as intensely as the duo on the bed.   
  
The darkness on the floor growled, rising up slightly, a tentacle of oozing murk snaking forth to wave impotently at the chosen youngsters. The surface of this greasy mass started to bubble, small wraiths of steam rising into the heavy air. The crowd of mitigated faces sneered at it, believing that it was evaporating now it had been removed from its host. However, it was doing nothing of the sort. The wisps of steam converged above the entity, forming a foggy accumulation that hovered about a foot off the ground. This mist grew, doubling in size within a few minutes until it stood as tall as Matt, who was nearest to it. Slowly, the haze darkened, taking on the swarthier hues of a living creature, whilst at the same time shaping itself into a recognisable silhouette. Not knowing what to make of this strange behaviour, the Digidestined only watched as a figure stepped out of the churning eddies. A figure they all knew and recognized. A gasp sped through them at what they beheld.  
  
The form of Sora Takenouchi stood before them, whole and uninjured. The dark entity had locked onto the only image it could whilst still attached to Tai's mind, taking this and using it as a template for its own physical body when thrust into the world beyond. It remained motionless under the collective gaze of its onlookers, an almost perfect copy of the chestnut haired girl. Silence reigned for a moment, tinctured by almost corporeal incredulity.   
  
Abruptly the entity's eyelids snapped open to reveal two glowing red orbs, devoid of both whites and pupils. They glowed in its head, as its face twisted into a mask of hatred. With a snarl it leapt forward, showing gleaming white fangs. Matt gave a cry as it barrelled into him, slashing at his face with razor sharp talons. He fell backwards under this sudden assault, landing on his side as he desperately fought against the mad beast wearing his girlfriend's visage.   
  
His companions yelled at the sight of their friend being attacked so violently, surging forward to aid him. Gatomon was the first to reach the struggling mass of flailing limbs, the little Digimon leaping into the fray with gusto. She clamped her jaws around the entity's wrist, eliciting a yelp from its twisted lips. It slammed the feline against the floor, ramming a hand into her face in an attempt to loosen her needle-sharp bite. But Gatomon had not been renowned as Myotismon's most formidable fighter for nothing. Instead of opening her mouth, she bit down harder, the coppery tang of blood touching her tongue. The entity fell back from the blonde youth, clawing at the white fur-ball with eagle-like talons. Gatomon yelled as twin gashes opened up across her back, the screech causing her to inadvertently open her maw. The entity needed no second bidding, catching the cat-Digimon and hurling her with inhuman force against the wall. All the breath was driven from Gatomon's small lungs, and she slid to the floor in a helpless heap.  
  
"Gatomon!" Kari yelled, pain in her voice at the sight of her partner so brutally cast aside. The little Digimon didn't stir.  
  
Red eyes turned upon the Digidestined, as the dark entity rounded on them once more. On its wrist it bore a deep slash that dripped black blood, a wound which would have proved fatal to any normal human.  
  
But this thing wasn't human.  
  
A feral hiss escaped its feminine lips, and it fell upon Matt once more, clawing at his eyes before he had a chance to react. However, this time someone was ready. Davis shot forward, swinging his leg with an aptitude born from years of soccer training. His foot connected hard with the entity's midriff, sending it backwards from the unexpected blow and winding it. Matt scrambled to his feet in its wake, elegant scratches latticing his now closed left eye, red fluid dribbling down his face.  
  
The entity snarled at the boy who dared to attack it. Davis glared at it through angry hazel eyes, refusing to be cowed. Behind him, Kari surreptitiously crossed the room and scooped up her beaten and bleeding Digimon lovingly in her arms. The entity noted her movements, and swung its own slim arm round to point at her. At once a bolt of darkness shot from its taloned fingertip, streaking towards the target it had missed nine years ago. Kari looked up just as the spear of blackness sped towards her, a scream hovering on her lips.  
  
"KARI! NOOO!"  
  
Kari felt herself knocked to the floor, Gatomon still clutched against her slender chest. A breeze blew across her terrified face as the entity's attack missed her by a hair's breadth, instead striking the wall and shattering the plaster in an explosion that rocked the entire apartment. A body lay atop hers, and for a moment she thought it was TK who had rescued her from the maw of death snapping at her heels. But TK stood a few feet away, gaping at her with concern in his ice-blue eyes. Then she saw the brown hair, peppered with shards of glass from the smashed goggles embedded among the fawn strands.   
  
Davis. It was Davis who had saved her!  
  
He raised his head, a large gash carved into his cheek dripping blood copiously where a piece of debris had caught him. Davis grinned sheepishly, surprised himself at his unusually heroic act. Kari felt herself return the smile, mouth forming only one word.  
  
"Thanks."  
  
Denied its prize once again, the entity shrieked, ploughing into the remaining children like a thing possessed. Its uncomfortably familiar appearance elicited little comeback from the youngsters, who defended themselves from its salvo of physical assaults rather than attack it back. Claws slashed, blood flowed, and yells of pain from both sides were unleashed as the darkness clothed in their comrade's form enacted its violent activities.  
  
Delivering a sharp blow to Joe's head that sent him flying across the room, the entity abruptly found itself at the bed. Tai stared at it, fear etched into his facial features. Memories of his dream resurfaced with sickening lucidity. He'd seen all this before, stared into those red orbs set in the face of the one he cared so much about. Yet then it had been a dream. A vision, not genuine. The panting creature standing before him now was most definitely real. Too real.   
  
The dark entity leered at him, sensing his weakness from their mental tussle. He was almost spent, and it curled its borrowed lips into a mocking parody of a smile at his defencelessness. If it took control now it could never be removed, no matter how much strength he took from his companions. It bunched its muscles, preparing to spring. To envelope the trembling boy in its true form and force its way back into his skull.  
  
Suddenly a figure appeared in front of Tai. Standing on shaky legs, one arm strapped to her chest by snowy bandages, the real Sora used her own body as a shield against this evil that infected the world. Hazel met crimson as the two Sora's faced off against each other. Both refused to back down, meeting their counterpart's gaze with matching conviction and hate. In that instant the entity realized the bond between the boy and this female, and the fact that it could never fully restore itself within him as long as he drew strength from her. For a ephemeral moment it considered killing her right there, but one fleeting glance at the expression on his face told it that if she were to die then he would set up new defences born of grief. It would be trapped outside of its haven until....  
  
No. It could already sense itself getting weaker. The feeling was only slight, but signified what was to come like a neon signpost to its ultra-receptive senses. It hissed, making a split second decision. The crowd of remaining Digidestined were already regrouping, advancing upon the entity menacingly from behind. The transaction couldn't be completed with them present, it was too risky. The incarnate darkness whipped around with unheard-of speed, launching itself from the ground and turning a neat somersault through the air. It landed lightly between Sora and the bed, coming face to face with Tai. The brown haired boy stared at his exorcised demon with a mixture of trepidation and tenacity. Yes, he feared it. He feared it so intensely that it hurt, but he'd already made the decision that he would rather die as a free human then return to the living nightmare that was existence under the rule of darkness.  
  
However, instead of attacking Tai, the entity spun round and grabbed Sora from behind. One slender yet powerful arm snaked around her waist, the other encircling her exposed throat. Sora gave a gurgle as her air supply was effectively cut off, struggling fruitlessly against the steel-trap-like embrace she now found herself ensnared in.   
  
"Sora!" Matt cried, running forward, but a quick jerk of her head by her doppelganger halted him in his tracks. Everyone knew what that movement implied, and ceased their encroachment lest their friend have her neck broken by her unearthly captor. Matt glowered at the entity that bore his girlfriend's face, yet twisted it so much that it seemed totally different to the benevolent original. In return, the demonic creature sneered at him, curling its top lip in a sardonic grin at his powerlessness. At all their weakness. Puny humans, fenced in by their emotions - just like its chosen vessel - to be used against them as an opportunity for darkness' triumph. The irony was not lost on the malevolent being, and a burst of vicious laughter spewed from its serrated maw.  
  
Each and every person in the room shuddered at that evil sound. None more so than Tai, the remnants of a memory coming to his liberated mind at the sound of this new voice. Shards of his old personality emerging, he prepared to leap at the entity whilst its back was turned. But even as he tensed his weary muscles the entity swivelled its body round. Tai stared into scared and clouding hazel eyes as Sora was dragged roughly into his view - unconsciousness claiming her as her lungs were deprived of the life-giving air they so desperately yearned for. Her body sagged feebly against the entity's deadly embrace. He switched his gaze to the maddened gleam of the darkness' red spheres, hazel eyes becoming hard and unforgiving. It looked back at him, smugness clearly evident in those scarlet tarns, coupled with the knowledge that it now held him in the palm of its clawed hand.  
  
With a booming voice that returned Tai straight back to his dream, the entity spoke. Its utterances cleaved through the strongest of spirits, dripping malevolence and hatred like a storm cloud pours rain. The noise emitted from its twisted lips harkening back to ancient scholars and how they imagined Lucifer himself must sound. But this voice was far more terrifying then anything they could have conceived. This voice was iniquity come to life. This voice was death, shaved from those killed by the worst murderers in the world and combined to make one hideous tone embed in an effeminate throat unsuited for such sounds. It spoke only two words, but they were two word wrapped in vileness, blended with malice by an incompatible tongue, which sent them flying through the tension-filled atmosphere to bury themselves like a spear in the brain of a hazel-eyed boy glaring fiercely from the flowery bed-sheets he was encased within.  
  
"Tokyo Tower."  
  
With that, the entity pivoted to face the window leading out onto Sora's balcony. As the chestnut haired girl slumped lifelessly into its clinch, it released her neck, raising its razor sharp talons at the panes of glass and unleashing a bolt of pure darkness from its palm. The entire building shook as the wall exploded outward, raining detrimental debris onto the street far below.   
  
With a last callous glance at its audience, the malevolent creature sprinted forward and leaped from the crumbling edge into the gaping void beyond. A collective gasp ran through the unwilling spectators as they watched the two Soras plummet from the aperture onto the neighbouring rooftop. Amazingly unhurt, they sped away through the rain, into the darkness faster then the naked eye could discern.  
  
Tai scrambled from the bed, rushing to the yawning gash in the brickwork, not caring about the rapidly disintegrating floor beneath his feet. Even with his extraordinary sight the pair were already lost from view, shielded by sheets of cascading water, taking with them all the hopes he'd recovered such as short time ago.   
  
Tai yelled after them desperately. "Sora! Sora!" Making as if to follow them through the cavernous opening. But sturdy arms halted him as Joe and Matt clutched at their friend, silently preventing him from his mad pursuit. Tai yanked against them, sending Matt off balance, only to find Davis hanging off his arm in the blonde youth's place, quiescently begging his idol not to venture out into the unforgiving night. Tai stared at the younger boy, at the plea buried so sincerely in his anguished hazel eyes, then back out into the blackness which had swallowed completely both his greatest enemy and the person he cared most about in the world. Tai's eyes welled with unshed tears, and he threw back his head as a tortured scream ripped unbidden from his gullet like the cry of a tormented soul in Hell.  
  
"SORAAAAAAAAAA!"  
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AUTHOR'S NOTES: Before anything else, I would just like to say a big THANK YOU 2 all those kind enough to review the last chapter, and an even bigger THANK YOUUUU! 2 those ppl who defended what I'd written so far (DragonBlond 04, I am thanking U muchly!) I hope that this instalment lives up 2 expectations, but review it and tell me if it doesn't.   
As a side-note, I finished writing the ending tonight, so the light at the end of the tunnel has been sighted. That is, if NE1 actually wants to know the ending. C&C and let me know how the land lies, OK? I'll post according to feedback.  
  
Toodles.  
  
Scribbler ;-D 


	11. Chapter Ten ~ Small Sacrifices

DISCLAIMER: Digimon isn't mine; it belongs to Saban, Toei and Bandai (Mean things that they are won't let me have a piece of the action!) However, this fic is completely mine and if I catch NE1 even sniffing around with the intent to pilfer then I will personally tie them up and make them watch Kevin Costner's 'The Postman' until they beg 4 mercy! (Bwahahahahaaaaa!)  
Mandatory blech finished (a slight variation on the usual 'blurb') here is the tenth instalment of my saga, with thanks to all those who have stuck with it thus far. This one's 4 U!  
BTW, I suggest that anyone who doesn't know what the Tokyo Tower looks like should find a picture; otherwise I'm afraid the rest of this fic won't have the desired effect. Sorry.  
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"The Darkness Within" By Scribbler  
Chapter Ten ~ "Small Sacrifices"  
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"If we would build on a sure foundation in friendship, we must love friends for their sake rather than for our own."-- Charlotte Bronte   
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A cold wind blew, snatching beads of water from the air mere seconds after they left the swelled underbelly of the storm clouds. Sheets of driving rain battered the sides of buildings, slamming against the concrete surfaces as if trying to knock them down. Overhead a deep rumbling reverberated across the dark sky like a caged monster's roar.  
  
Tai gazed numbly at the sodden city, his own eyes moist - but not from rain. Flecks of water sprayed through the gaping hole before him, hitting his face like a volley of needles. He made no effort to move as the cloud's tears slowly saturated him, instead slumping weakly to his knees under the harsh droplets. Fragments of crumbling building broke away only inches from him, tumbling on their deadly descent to the street far below. Their landing was deadened by the incessant beating of the rain.  
  
A groan set up a little way behind him, but he paid it no heed. The blonde boy at his side, however, turned at the familiar noise. Matt watched through pained eyes at a red haired boy coming towards them, leaning heavily on another blonde youth wearing a fishing hat. Izzy looked dazedly at the collection of teenagers clustered around the rough aperture hewn into the side of the apartment. His eyes became wide with shock.  
  
"What the - " He began, but halted at the expression of raw agony evident in his friend's blue eyes. His voice became serious. "What happened?"  
  
In few words Matt told him, the younger boy's eyes widening with every phrase. At the end of the update Izzy's face was pale, all the colour having drained from his cheeks. He gazed worriedly at the sagging figure facing him.  
  
"So, what do we do now?"  
  
Matt was at a loss. His mind felt frozen, his tongue thick. Explaining the situation had brought home to him the events he had just witnessed in their truest sense, and shock permeated his being in a way he'd never thought it could. Even in the Digital World, when confronted with all the pain and cost of being a Digidestined, he'd never experienced such intense hopelessness. It was as if all the strength he'd acquired during that time had been stripped away, leaving nothing but his naked emotions, at the mercy of fate's cruel hand. He felt alone, and totally.... totally helpless.  
  
Another voice broke in, filled with all the pain and all the anguish Matt couldn't put into words. This voice sliced through the air like a blade, cleaving aside all doubts as to the sincerity of the speaker.  
  
"You do nothing." It said. "I go to Tokyo Tower."  
  
Everyone looked at Tai, identical surprise mixed with horror embedded in their expressions. The brown haired boy simply stared out of the gap into the night, visage unwavering. Matt's tongue loosened itself slightly at his friend's statement.  
  
"You can't!" He croaked. "We're not about to let you go off on your own Tai, not again."  
  
"It's me the darkness wants." Tai's tone was flat, testifying facts they all knew were true but resisted accepting.   
  
"Tai, you can't do this - "   
  
"I'm afraid you don't have a say in the matter - any of you." Tai rose unsteadily to his feet, shaking off Davis and Joe's attempts to aid him. He breathed a deep sigh for strength. Matt started forward, but without turning around Tai sensed his action.  
  
"Don't try to stop me." He snapped. "Too many people have been hurt or.... or died because of me already. I'm not about to let Sora become one of them."  
  
"But Tai, we can help you." Yolei whined. Tai whirled on her, the smouldering embers in his hazel eyes so powerful that the pink haired girl had to take a step backwards.  
  
"No, you can't!" He practically spat. "*She* tried to help me, and look what happened!" He gestured wildly at the pounding rain outside. "I'm not going to let it happen again! I won't! Not to her! Not to any of you!"  
  
"But Tai," Ken's lilting voice tried to soothe the older boy, to talk some of his trademark good-sense into him. "If you do what the entity wants then it'll take control again."  
  
A pause as this statement was digested by all. Then Tai spoke, his voice scant above a whisper, yet reverberating among them like he'd bellowed.  
  
"No.... it won't."   
  
Something in Tai's tone prevented further comment. An underlying fierceness that defied description. It was as if all the pain and all the emotion bottled up inside him for so long without an outlet had risen to the surface, bubbling beneath his skin until, finally, it was wrapped around his tongue and fired from his mouth in that one, simple sentence. He truly believed what he was saying, and for some inexplicable reason, the other Digidestined did too.  
  
"How will you get to Tokyo Tower?" Izzy asked huskily. Tai looked sadly at him, and the younger boy could have bitten back the words as sudden insight permeated his astute brain. Tai didn't have to speak, but did anyway.  
  
"I.... can do things that...." He paused, searching for an appropriate word. "....normal people can't." There was no need to say more, his own memories burning brightly where they'd been implanted inside the minds of his comrades.  
  
Tai turned to go, but another voice caught around him like a lasso, pulling him back inside the apartment.   
  
"You're gonna need back-up." Said Gatomon from Kari's arms. Her blue eyes locked expectantly with Tai's as he swivelled to face her, silently disallowing him the right to argue. An unspoken agreement passed between the human and Digimon, and he consummated it with a single, curt nod.   
  
Kari stepped forward. "If Gatomon goes, then so do I."  
  
"No." Her brother replied softly, not meeting her gaze.  
  
"I'm not asking for your permission, Tai." Kari shot back, voice equally as soft. "I'm telling you."  
  
"And I said no." Tai reiterated. "I'm not putting your life at risk, Kari."  
  
"You wouldn't be. This is my decision, not yours. I know you're my brother, but you can't decide my life for me. I choose to go, and I'll deal with the consequences if there are any. Sora's my friend, and Gatomon needs me there to digievolve, and.... and I want to be there.... with you."  
  
Tai lifted his line of vision, meeting his sister's eyes as she stared intently at him. Those hazel orbs were filled with a determination and grit he'd seen there before. Memories of a small child, gaudy pink scarf tied loosely round her neck, facing off against a vampire-like Digimon at least three times her size rose lucidly in Tai's psyche. She hadn't backed down then, or ever since. Now was not going to be an exception no matter what he said. Kari's mind was made up.  
  
Despite himself, Tai gave her a small, lopsided grin. His face showed a smidgen of what his eyes blazed. The rest of the Digidestined team saw the tenderness in their leader's face, but only Kari really understood the bond showing through in the depths of his hazel spheres. Her allegiance had touched him to the bottom of his very soul, and his love for his baby sister burned in turn into hers. A year of separation suddenly meant nothing, as the two siblings reforged the link that had once been so strong between them, strengthening it until naught - not distance, not discord, not even death itself - would ever be able to breach it again.  
  
Silently, the pair turned towards the gaping cavity before them. Gatomon leapt gracefully - if a little shakily - from her partner's embrace, to land delicately on the debris-strewn floor. Kari stepped in front of her brother, detaching the pink D-3 from her belt in preparation for the feline's needs. Numerous eyes watched her fixedly, and Tai hung back slightly, not wanting to impose on his sister's moment.  
  
Suddenly, he felt someone grasp his arm. The brown haired youth twisted around to stare into twin pools of ice. Matt looked at Tai. Tai looked at Matt. Each quiescently read the impossible questions in the other's eyes, neither speaking a word, yet saying a thousand apiece.   
  
A nagging feeling had plagued Matt for a long while now. Such a feeling as can be ignored and repressed, but never truly forgotten. It gnawed at his gut every moment he was awake, and haunted his dreams in slumber. However, ever since Tai's miraculous return from 'death', the odd sensation had never left him alone. It pervaded his mind when he remembered the events a year ago. It pushed itself to the fore whenever he saw the 'resurrected' boy himself. But all that paled to when he looked upon a certain face. A face with gentle, serious eyes, framed by soft chestnut tresses. A face he adored more than anything else in the world.  
  
Matt's eyes burned with the question he yearned to ask, trusting that his suspicions were right and Tai would understand what he barely did himself. Matt wasn't a fool. He saw what flitted across that face he cared about whenever its hazel eyes rested on his long-lost friend. He discerned the emotion in that gaze which had never been present when looking at him. True, he'd seen sparks directed his way, but not the burning flames so obviously directed at his returned comrade. Not the venerated fires behind his own cerulean stare. Matt wanted - no, needed - to know if his suspicions were rooted in truth. He had to know if the fire burned also in Tai's hazel eyes. Had to see whether his was the love destined to be unrequited.  
  
Tai read the plea in his closest friend's azure tarns. The raw agony of uncertainty there cut him to the quick, unspoken queries buzzing inside his mind like a swarm of irresolute bees. Emotion swelled within his heart, seeking solace in his hazel gaze and travelling silently along this visual link to its required destination. Tai didn't know how to put into words what he felt when he thought of that lovely face in question, with its compassionate hazel eyes, but the images which sprang unbidden to his resolved mind spoke for themselves. Years of secret devotion pulsed through him, making themselves known the only way they knew how.   
  
Matt dropped his gaze. He'd seen the luminescent inferno blazing in the centre of Tai's hazel orbs. Now he knew. Tai was the one, the single individual whom that beautiful face had been unconsciously waiting for. The mind within that mop of silky auburn hair may not yet have fully realized it, but Matt discerned it clearly in his friend's gaze. Emotions so ancient they transcended the flimsy barriers of time and space, instead stretching out across their own universe, a gift to those lucky enough to realize them. Matt had found the emotions, but not the other half of the equation to share them with. Tai, however, had. Sighing, Matt dropped his arm to his side. He loved her, but that didn't mean he was the one; and he knew that if he was ever to truly see a smile on that face then he would have to make the ultimate sacrifice - he would have to break his own heart.  
  
All this passed without an audible sound, and Tai rested a grateful hand on Matt's shoulder. He knew the sacrifice the blonde youth was making, and gratitude mixed with camaraderie radiated from every pore of his being. Matt jerked a short glance at his appreciative companion, before pulling himself out from under Tai's fingertips.  
  
Tension hung in the air like a cloying fog, and Tai whirled around and sprinted through it towards the aperture in the wall. He breezed past his companions, not stopping until he reached the gaping opening. With an aptitude borne from his time under the dark entity he launched himself out into the night, flying high into the air, higher than should be possible for a human to go. Through the sheets of rain he soared, before plummeting down onto the neighbouring rooftop to land running, not even winded by the action.   
  
On he sped. Onward towards his destination. Towards the brightly lit monolith shining even through the cascading droplets. Tai gritted his teeth as he leaped onto another rooftop, feet slapping slightly against its wet surface.  
  
I'm coming, Sora. Don't you worry. I won't let it hurt you, I swear. Thoughts swirled within him like a torrent of anger directed at the darkness that dared to threaten the one he cared about. Choler massed about his vision, but piercing these enraged feelings sliced one sentient promise, which rolled from his psyche like the thunder across the sky.  
  
Whatever happens, this ends tonight!  
___________________  
  
Pain.  
  
That was the first thing to register in Sora's fuddled brain. Searing, suffocating pain. Tendrils of unseen agony snaked their way around her neck and down into her throat itself. She coughed, retching up both the spittle catching in her gullet and the memory of sharp claws clamped around her slender neck.   
  
Groaning slightly, the girl's wits slowly returned to her. She determined she was on her back, her spine pressed against a hard, cold surface. Metal of some sort. A biting wind buffeted her face, beating frostily against the closed lids, and water splashed heavily against her skin. Rain. So she was outside too.   
  
Gradually she recalled what had happened before she lost consciousness. The entity taking on her form, trying to attack Tai. Herself shielding him, then being captured by the incarnate darkness. A blast of raindrops against her skin, followed by an agonizingly painful scream in the distance. Tai's scream.  
  
Tai....  
  
Through her befuddled stupor his face rose to meet Sora's mind's eye. The fear of being reinfested by the darkness shining white hot in his sparkling hazel eyes. Then him trying to rise, to attack his demon as it clutched at her. To save her despite his terror.  
  
Sora tried to roll over, turning to her right to avoid leaning on her injured arm. Suddenly, a hard object connected with her midriff, sending her back onto her spine, the breath driven from her lungs. Her eyes snapped open at this, and she stared up at the tall figure that had kicked her, standing over her prone body.   
  
To Sora, it was as if she was looking into a mirror - but a bewitched mirror from some hellish carnival. Locks of loose, chestnut hair blew across the individual's face. Her hair. Her face. Fangs indented the lower lip of her twin as it twisted its mouth into a malicious smile. Red eyes gazed unblinkingly at her, hatred glowing as clearly as the sun during the day. It viewed its prisoner through harsh, unforgiving eyelets, malice dripping like an almost tangible ooze from its false skin. A feral growl escaped its throat as it drew back its foot - her foot - and kicked her again.  
  
Sora released a muffled 'oomph' as a copy of her own shoe buried itself in her gut. She tried to curl up in pain, but the creature bearing her face bent down and swiftly pulled her up by the collar of her pink pyjamas. Sora stumbled slightly, eliciting a shake by the evil entity that rattled her teeth within her head. When the world stopped moving, the teenager found herself face to face with.... herself.  
  
The entity grinned at her. A leering, rancorous grin, which sent chills running up and down her spine. Either that, or the intense cold assaulting her body through the thin veneer of her nightclothes was making itself known. Clone-Sora pushed its face into the original's until its breath blew into her nose.  
  
"Are you scared?"  
  
Sora didn't know whether to be shocked or repulsed by the fact that the thing could talk. When it had been just a driving force inside Tai, some inexplicable entity without shape or name, it had been easier to comprehend, to accept. Now though.... now it had a voice, and a mouth with which to use it - hers. It made her feel.... violated somehow. But the sound which emanated from her twin's lips wasn't *her* sound. This was a terrible noise that seared her brain with its proximity and volume like a million knitting needles forcing their way through her very skull. A horrendous vocalization, which reminded her of Tai's agonized screams when faced with his own inner demons earlier.   
  
Was she scared? Yes. Was she going to show it? No.  
  
Desperately, Sora swung at the clone grasping her collar with her good arm, intending to smack its head and then run away whilst it was disorientated. However, with inhuman speed the thing released her lapels, shoving her backward so that she fell onto her rear with a metallic thud. Even as the hazel-eyed girl tried to scramble to her aching bare feet, it shot forward and kicked her squarely in her chest. Sora yelled loudly as she landed on her injured arm, jarring the torn muscles beneath the white bandage. A crimson flower blossomed through the pallid fabric as the wound was reopened, and all trace of colour drained from the girl's face as this dark stain spread.  
  
With a sniggering growl, the dark entity loomed over her. It spoke again with its awful voice, slicing her ears like a wicked dagger.  
  
"Stupid human. You don't realise what you're messing with."  
  
Through the wave of nausea sweeping over her from the pain in her arm, Sora spat at it. It noted the gesture, but seemed unaffected. Tokens of human contempt were beneath its notice, but it took the opportunity of her agony to yank her upright by her hair. Sora yelped as she was forced to stand on tiptoes, cold metal numbing her already frozen feet.  
  
"Look!" Her counterpart commanded, physically twisting her head round to stare out across.... the city.  
  
Sora blinked. But, how could she be seeing an aerial view of the city? She was standing on solid ground. Solid.... metal ground....  
  
At once her head whipped round, unheedful of the clump of hair lost to the entity's claws in the process. She noted the orange bars behind her; rivulets of rainwater running freely down their vivid hides. Through these strips of metal she could see a large, thin structure. More of a pole with windows than a building, really. Faces were vaguely visible through the windows, tiny at this distance, but decipherable nonetheless.  
  
With a sickening lurch, Sora realised that she was standing on the huge metal platform encircling the Tokyo Tower. Rain slicked her hair against her head and a chilly wind pummelled her barely covered body as she gaped openly at their location.  
  
The entity, still with a handful of detached chestnut hair, kneed its captive hard in the stomach. She went down, but was disallowed the right to crumple onto the floor in a heap, instead being forced up again, a fresh amount of hair firmly clutched in the clone's talons. Sora yelped, meeting its crimson gaze.  
  
"Why?" She gasped out, many questions contained with that one word.  
  
"Because you forced me from my host." It replied, practically lacerating her ears with its tone. "Because I was denied my vessel and now I want it back. Because you crossed me. Because you were born. Because I can."  
  
Tears sprang to Sora's eyes, brought on by the intense pains located in her arm and scalp, but she wilfully shoved them back down inside herself, forcing them to return to the pool of unshed emotions they'd swum from. She gagged as a fresh surge of nausea engulfed her, retching slightly as bile crept up her craw. The entity, disgusted by her weakness, threw the heaving teenager to the floor, receiving another agonized cry for its efforts. This was the human who'd forced it so brutally from its vessel? This pathetic.... thing clasping her gut in front of it? The darkness could hardly believe its glowing, red eyes. Hatred and contempt flared within its gaze. It should kill her now, put her out of her misery. But this idea was swiftly rejected from its twisted mind. If she were to die prematurely, then the boy would never allow himself to succumb to reinfestation. Never. No, the girl was a necessary inconvenience.... at least for the moment. Cruelly, the creature ran its tongue across its serrated maw in anticipation of the blood fest that would follow soon after. Let them think they could defeat it. Those puny humans had no clue of the enormity of their situation. It could crush them easily, like bugs if it wanted to.  
  
Sora's mind whirled at a sudden maelstrom of thoughts that weren't her own. Necessary inconvenience. Puny humans. Blood fest. Like bugs. Random images too terrible to comprehend flashed through her brain, and she gasped at their lucidity. The entity jerked its head up, stalking over and pulling her up by her hair once more. Sora gazed into its curious red spheres, wondering what the strange expression she could read there was. More odd thoughts crowded into her feverish brain. Empathy. A link. The boy. Connected. She winced under the onslaught of unexpected schizophrenia, shying away from the more violent pictures flooding her psyche.   
  
The entity narrowed its eyes at her, and Sora stared into their ruby depths, having no other place to look from where her head was positioned. Buried in the scarlet emptiness of those orbs was an emotion Sora never believed the creature could even know, let alone experience. She studied this presence, probing it with her mind. At once another eddy of thoughts entered her. Sora blinked rainwater from her eyelashes as realization dawned upon her. They were linked. Tai and the entity shared a psychic bond because of being melded as one for so long. She could sense the underlying residue of him inside its core, as probably was the case within him. But somehow, Sora was also able to sense the entity's mind. Her part in liberating Tai's essence had somehow bonded her to him in a way never before done, and consequently she now felt everything the personified darkness before her felt. Thoughts, disjointed but intelligible, flowed into her head, winding their way around her contemplations as she called them to her.  
  
The entity started as its internee turned to it with a superior expression it her hazel eyes. She smiled, a mischievous smile of one who knows more than they're telling.  
  
"You're scared."  
  
It hissed at her, taken aback by the conviction in her words, unaware yet as to the full extent of their mental link.  
  
"What?"  
  
"You're scared." Sora repeated smugly. "You don't have much time left, do you?"  
  
How could this be? How could this scrawny human know?  
  
Sora continued, the light of knowledge shining in her eyes. "You have to reinfest your host or else you'll shrivel up and die, don't you? You're a parasite. You can't survive for long without someone to live off!"  
  
The doppelganger growled menacingly, the first tendrils of her coherent thought weaving their way through their bond towards it. So that was how she knew! But she knew too much. She didn't have the barriers against clandestine data that had been embedded in the boy. If she found out all its weaknesses and transferred them to him then everything would be finished. It would all be over. No! No, it couldn't let that happen. Better to fight the boy with his new defences then suffer defeat because of this.... this upstart girl.  
  
Roaring with rage, the incensed creature tossed Sora across the length of the metal structure. She bounced, one, twice, three times, before rolling to a halt at the edge of the steel precipice. At some point during her inadvertent flight her bleeding arm had come loose of its fastenings, and now hung lazily over the rim, red droplets mixing with clear as the rain beat incessantly down on her already saturated form. Her body felt as if it was on fire, but she struggled to get up as she sensed the entity drawing closer. Sora squinted through the downpour, trying to make out the familiar shape of her own body through the near-blinding murk, not knowing which way to run until she was aware of its position.  
  
A bolt of pure darkness heralded its location, speeding out of the gloom to explode just inches away from her foot. Apparently the falling water was also impeding its vision as well as her own. Sora thanked heaven for small mercies as she scrambled to her bitterly cold feet and limped off in the other direction, not really knowing what she'd do if she came to the end of the platform. At least its accuracy wasn't up to scratch. If she could just keep dodging it until....  
  
Until what? Until Tai arrived? She'd read in the creature's mind the conviction it held that he would come, and had to admit, that was exactly the kind of thing Tai would do. Rush into a situation without bothering to think of the penalty for himself. That was what had gotten him into this predicament in the first place nine years ago, protecting Kari.  
  
A second explosion knocked her from her feet to sprawl unceremoniously on her backside. Sora noted that she was too close to the edge for comfort, and scudded away from the brink before clambering to her deadened feet once more.  
  
But those few seconds were to prove priceless. Before she even knew what was going on, the clone was at Sora's side, hissing and spitting like an infuriated feline. It grabbed her roughly by the shoulders, jarring her wounded arm in the process but taking little heed of her pained shout. The only thought filling its auburn-clad head was to get rid of this annoying girl before she caused any more problems. Before Sora even had time to register its thoughts through their psychic link, it had stepped forward to the periphery of the platform and savagely thrown her off it into the all-consuming blackness beyond.  
___________________  
  
AUTHOR'S NOTES: Short, I know, but believe me, this wouldn't have worked any other way. I've been coerced by many a friendly persuasion from 'Ralph Wiggum' (don't underestimate the death threats, violent tendencies, and promise of bodily harm either!) not to grovel 4 reviews this time, and because I now fear 4 my safety, I won't. I'd still like them (please don't hurt me Ralph!) but I won't beg.  
  
'Till next time peeps!  
  
Scribbler ^_^ 


	12. Chapter Eleven ~ Devil's Tears

DISCLAIMER &AUTHOR'S NOTES: Altogether now, 'Digimon belongs to Toei, Saban and Bandai, not Scribbler. This is a copyrighted fic, any attempt to plagiarize will result in a severe concussion when the authoress bashes you one on the noggin with her keyboard!' You have been warned (!)  
Many thanks to all who have reviewed all previous chapters, I'm very grateful. Like I said before, you really do have to know what Tokyo Tower looks like to understand the rest of this fic, I'm sorry, but it just won't have the same dramatic effect otherwise.  
I won't be around for a couple of weeks now (that's why I've been so prompt with these last few chapters) because I have mock exams coming up for my A-Levels. However, I've already started work on my next fic and will post it as soon as I can, so watch this space (!) Thanx muchly 4 all UR support out there, and let me know what U think as par usual thru reviews (also drop us a line as to whether you'd like me to post my next project or not - much obliged.)  
  
At the risk of sounding cheesy, "C'est la vie!"  
  
Scribbler ^_^  
___________________  
  
"The Darkness Within" By Scribbler  
Chapter Eleven ~ "Devil's Tears"  
___________________  
  
"Forgiveness is the final form of love."-- Reinhold Niebuhr  
___________________  
  
Tai leapt from roof to roof with practised ease, only a little slower then usual because of reduced visibility. Above him a huge white shape soared through the sky, feathers dampened by the torrential downpour around them. Angewomon clasped Kari protectively in her arms, trying - yet failing - to keep her dry as well as aloft.  
  
In the distance a large glowing spire loomed out of the night, illuminated by the many ghostly lights surrounding it. Tokyo Tower dominated the skyline, dwarfing all other buildings in the contiguous area. Through the haze of falling water it still arose proud and tall, a symbol of Japanese progress and triumph recognizable throughout the globe.  
  
Tai kept his eyes fixed on this exultant construction, not considering its technological significance, but rather the prize it contained.  
  
And enemy.  
  
His feet touched many buildings and leapt many gaps as he travelled, but he acknowledged none of them, focused only on that nearing tower and what was contained therein.  
  
The brown haired boy was just crossing a broad, flat rooftop when suddenly his body was wracked with a crushing pain slightly above his midriff. It wasn't enough to merit more than a wince on his increased pain-threshold, but did make him stumble for a moment and wonder what caused it. It vanished as quickly as it had come, like a shadow of pain, intense but only a token of what should be felt. Tai faltered in his mad flight at the abrupt and inexplicable sensation.  
  
What was that?  
  
He vacillated momentarily at the edge of the rooftop, taking a second more than usual to gather his muscles and launch himself over the wide gap between this and the next structure. The hesitation was slight, but didn't go unnoticed to Angewomon's sharp gaze. The winged Digimon flew down closer to the speeding human, being careful to avoid any telephone wires as she did so.  
  
"What's up?" Her usually powerful voice sounded thin as it was snatched away by the howling wind. The teenager didn't answer, and reluctantly she was forced higher into the air by a clump of trees blocking her path up ahead. Angewomon's brows knitted beneath her steel mask. She knew he'd heard her, but Tai had consciously chosen not to reply, and in this kind of situation that was never a good thing.  
  
Contrary to the Digimon's train of thought, Tai didn't actually know what was the matter. A strange sense of foreboding was manifesting itself in the pit of his stomach, and he had the distinct feeling that something was wrong. Terribly wrong. As if in answer to this, pain abruptly flared in his arm, followed by agony in his scalp. Invisible fingers twined themselves around his hair, yanking and ripping it away from his scalp, yet leaving no trace of their presence. Tai gasped as these ethereal sensations too evaporated before he could truly distinguish what they were.  
  
Spots danced before his eyes as unbidden thoughts coursed into his brain. Necessary inconvenience. Puny humans. Blood fest. Like bugs. Their unspoken voice drove into his mind like a spear, accompanied by a cacophony of ghastly imagery shrouded in darkness and tinged with blood. Tai started as he recognized some of these images. He'd seen them before.... when he carried the entity inside him. Tortured imagoes used to send him to the brink of insanity with grief and remorse. Flashes of past victims sped across his psyche, coupled with untrue visions of his friends, streaked with crimson fluid, pointing accusingly at him. His dream. Tai realised that somehow, as he drew nearer to it, he was sensing the link he held with the entity's mind. The unholy bond forged between them through months of mental battling.   
  
The hazel-eyed teenager's jaw set, and he pressed on, regardless of the pounding rain, knowing now that his quarry was close by. Waiting.  
  
Yet along with these horrific foreign thoughts and memories another voice sang. Emotions that didn't belong to the dark evil pervading his brain surged faintly along this psychic bridge, whirling their own story into his mind. Tai sensed fear, and pain - both physical and mental. Waves of determination flowed towards him, riding on the back of intense dread and longing. As the youth drew closer to the tower these feelings grew stronger, until tenuous words burned into him like a ghostly beacon.  
  
Parasite.   
  
Shrivel up.  
  
Arm.  
  
Pain.  
  
Run.  
  
Until what?  
  
Tai.  
  
He didn't know what to make of them, but they coursed through his being until his very veins pulsed with their indomitable melody. Tai halted as he reached the end of the buildings bordering around Tokyo Tower, his mind awhirl with questions and alien words alike. Delicately, Angewomon hovered next to him, Kari peeking out from within her partner's embrace. Together, they stared up at the huge monolith, not sure what to do now. They'd come to the specified destination, but had no idea where to start looking for either Sora or her clone. Never had the proverb 'needle in a haystack' been so apt.  
  
Tai's eyes narrowed as yet more images permeated his mind's eye. For some inexplicable reason, he sensed that these weren't the memories of either mind connected to his. Neither were they the cruel weapons used so many times upon his slumbering brain. Instead, these visions were clear and sharp, like they were a present reality, occurring at that very moment.  
  
The same scene, fragmented and seen from different angles through different perspectives, showed itself lucidly through the link. Tai discerned an explosion, and the sound of rending metal. A flash of pink fabric scurried across his sight, to be replaced by another bolt of darkness and detonation. He could almost feel the fear of the determined mind, but the entity's singular presence all but blotted these emotions out as it darted forward to grip the rose material. Tai caught a flash of hazel eyes, wide with pain and shock. Then a burst of fear as....  
  
Sudden movement high above his physical body suddenly caught the boy's attention. With his almost super-human sight he glimpsed something moving on the gigantic dais hundreds of feet above him. A ball of fire, nearly invisible from this distance, was dissipating into the sodden night air. From the smoky clouds an object suddenly emerged, twirling as it fell parallel with the metal structure. Tai's hazel eyes fixed onto this seemingly insignificant article, and as he watched he became aware that it was pink. Exactly the same shade of pink as....  
  
Kari and Angewomon's heads both snapped round at the anguished cry that abruptly ripped from Tai's throat. The boy was a blur as he leapt desperately from the building beneath him, pushing his muscles harder then he'd ever pushed them before. Inhuman strength mixed with extreme anxiety lent wings to his feet, sending him flying towards the metal spire looming before them. The two females let out twin gasps, but their intakes of breath were completely lost among the cascading raindrops falling around them. Tai vanished from view through the sheets of rain, but still his tormented scream rang out clearly, reverberating inside the ears of all who heard it like a knell. A tortured soul clamouring from the depths of Hell.  
  
"SORA! NOOOOO!"  
___________________  
  
Sora felt shocked when she was tossed from the platform. One moment she was standing on the freezing metal, the next she wasn't. Her stomach lurched at the sudden absence of terra firma, and a single burst of surprise rocked her entire being.  
  
She was going to die.  
  
Just this simple realization. Nothing more. No screams of terror. No frantic attempts to prevent the inevitable. She'd just been thrown from the Tokyo Tower; she knew there was no hope now. Quiet acceptance of this fact quashed all other emotions within her, rendering her mind calm in the face of death. Sora fell limply, not even bothering to struggle, preparing herself for that fateful moment when she either hit the ground or struck a metal bar on the way down.  
  
"SORA! NOOOOO!"  
  
Tai? Sora thought she could hear him, the same anguished shout he'd emitted when she was captured burning on his lips. A memory, come back to haunt her in her final moments.  
  
Suddenly, something crashed into the teenage girl. She felt a warm bulk strike against hers, carrying her with it as it travelled upwards on its journey. Up, up, up, she went, strong arms manifesting around her body and hugging her tightly. Sora was vaguely aware of a presence through the mind-link. A mind tinctured with grief and loss, now filled with concern for the shivering individual clasped against its chest. A compassionate mind. A mind she found strangely comforting and familiar.  
  
The thing holding Sora grabbed a huge metal rod in one hand, swinging their combined weight round to land gracefully in the crook of two steel shafts embedded in the Tower's side. Sora collapsed to her knees - legs unable to hold her up - as her aching feet touched down on the hard surface. Her near-death experience wracked her slender frame, causing sobbing gasps to involuntarily bubble in her throat and burst into the saturated air.   
  
She turned her gaze up at the one who'd saved her, and found herself locking with a pair of intimate hazel eyes set in drenched tanned skin. One name escaped her dripping lips as water scored its harsh and unforgiving path down her face.  
  
"Tai...."  
  
"Sora...." He murmured back, crouching beside her trembling form. Their eye contact didn't break for a second, as hazel stared into hazel like they'd never met before in their entire lives. Emotions flowed between them silently as they looked at each other.   
  
Sora felt immense relief that he was here by her side, here to face off against this terrible evil out for her blood. But another part of her screamed at him to leave, to go back where he came from, before it was too late, before he was forced to once again succumb to the darkness. Yet she said nothing, only stared at him as if not believing that he was truly there.  
  
Tai returned her gaze like for like. Anger frothed beneath his cool exterior at the state of her, hair plastered to her head with rain; face pale and drawn with pain and shock. He reached out to steady her shaking shoulder, but she yelped and sprang back at his touch. Tai's gaze slowly slid to Sora's left arm, to the rapidly diluting pool of red by her side, to the trails of sticky blood coursing down her skin. Choler flared within his gut. The entity had hurt her. It had tried to kill her.  
  
It would pay.  
  
A harsh screech behind them caused both to whirl round. As if from nowhere, a bolt of darkness sped towards them at abnormal velocity. Tai turned with equal speed, scooping Sora into his arms and plunging from the metal bar without hesitation. The black missile, deprived of its target, smashed into where they'd knelt only seconds ago and reduced the area to a blackened chunk of melted steel which hissed impotently as rainwater touched it.  
  
The duo plummeted, down, down, down, until finally coming to rest on another, wider beam below. Tai struck the surface feet first, bending his legs slightly to absorb the impact. Sora stared incredulously at him. Nobody could have survived that fall, much less be able to stand after landing! The boy holding her straightened up, tension clear in his features. He swivelled his eyes to look at her, willing her to comprehend what had just occurred. At once a flare of understanding surged through their mental link, and Sora knew perfectly what he meant. He still held some of the power endowed him by the entity. Not the control of darkness, but physical abilities. Like the ability to jump hundreds of feet without breaking a limb or receiving even a scratch for the effort. Like the ability to leap entire buildings in search of a lost companion....  
  
Tai set her down, and she shakily ordered her legs to keep her body upright this time. However, Sora still needed to lean heavily against the brown haired boy as a wave of queasiness washed over her from loss of blood. He supported the sagging girl with one arm; simultaneously casting his gaze about for signs of the entity. Around them webs of orange painted-steel latticed his vision, but he could see nothing else. Tai growled. This was too much. It had taken so much from him already, but still tried to murder Sora. Still tried to hurt him in the worst way possible.  
  
Whilst Tai scanned the surrounding area, Sora could only look in one direction, such was the nausea freezing her muscles. She stared at a single spot, willing the sickness in her stomach away, calling on her inner-strength as she'd done for the last year whenever faced with emotions that seemed too big to deal with. Gradually the area around the spot she fixated on began to appear fuzzy, as she ceased thinking about the world around her and concentrated on what was happening inside herself. The waves of discomfort faded slightly, and she redoubled her efforts on this front at the encouraging response she received.  
  
Suddenly Sora's brain pricked up. She felt a darkness rushing towards them, surging out of the gloom like a goblin straight from Hell. It advanced upon the two teenagers with inhuman speed, coming at them from above. Tai was so busy looking around for any physical signs of the enemy that he'd glossed over completely the psychic warnings of its presence, but Sora - in her hyper-conscious mental state - perceived them immediately. But there was no time to move; it was too fast....  
  
At first Tai didn't know what was happening when Sora hit him. He felt her break from under his embrace and push him away, shoving him savagely in the chest with a strength he didn't know she still possessed. Her action was so rough, so unfriendly; he could only gape as he stumbled backwards, almost slipping over the edge of their perch. What was she doing? Was she trying to kill him? A sudden thought struck his smarting brain, causing his jaw to drop in horror. Had she been infested? It wasn't totally unlikely, and she was acting in such a hostile manner....  
  
Then it struck. A bolt of dark lightning, which hit the pyjama-clad girl before him. Tai could only watch, horror-stricken, as she flew up into the air, saturated hair flying wildly, mouth open in a silent scream. Her broken body sailed over the rim of the gaudy precipice like a rag-doll, limbs flailing lifelessly as she tumbled into the void below. The brown haired boy sat stationary for an incalculable moment, before screaming his agony behind her. A raw, pain-filled screech, devoid of words but not of meaning. He rose, preparing to leap after her, but was stopped when a figure landed on his back, clamping its arms around his neck. Tai struggled, but the stranger remained where it sat. It leaned its head forward to whisper into his ear, but at the sound of its voice he felt as though his very soul was being hewn in two.  
  
"Guess who."  
  
"You!" Tai spat, enraged. Here was the vile creature that had ripped his family away from him. Here was the being that had murdered countless innocents in its clamour for blood and death. Here was the thing that had torn Sora from his breast....  
  
Sora!  
  
Tai threw himself forward after the girl who'd sacrificed herself for him, but the entity that bore her face was ready. With wicked talons it raked its fingers across Tai's face, leaving long gashes across his cheek and forehead. He yelled at this action, swiping blindly at his assailant as his own blood got into his eyes. It cackled madly, dodging each and every blow with ease. Tai roared powerlessly, red fluid clouding his vision and preventing him from following Sora as she fell. He slipped, falling precariously close to the edge - but not close enough. Tai blinked, tears filling his eyes and cleansing them of the life-juice blurring his sight.  
  
She was gone. He had failed. The only person he'd ever loved, and he'd let her down when she needed him the most. She'd sacrificed herself, and he hadn't saved her. Grief filled his mind like a pale mist, the colour of his tears. Tai felt all the anger, all the fear, and all the loss of the past year well up inside him, welcome tinder for a spark to set them alight. Emotions crowded into his head, repressed for so long but now brought forward by the memory of that fragile body tumbling, shattered, through the air. He'd failed her, and now.... now something was going to pay.  
  
The entity atop Tai's back let out a wailing screech as Tai's raw emotion pitched through their mental link, spearing its dark mind with its vehemence. Such was the intensity of the boy's feelings, that it muffled everything else, until the only things left in the bond were his boundless waves of power and the creature's agonized mental screams.  
  
Sora's clone fell back, loosing its grip on Tai's spine and spinning off the edge of the metal bar. Tai heard a sickening crump as it made contact with another below, turning and jumping with cat-like grace to land beside it.  
  
The entity hissed, crawling backwards on its rump. One leg was twisted oddly beneath it, obviously broken. Tai faltered as the bright glare of a nearby floodlight caught its visage, illuminating it with phosphorescing light. His gaze fell upon the familiar contours of its face. Sora's face. Despite everything, he still saw the girl he cared so much about in this unholy creature, and something panged inside him at the false sight of her injured and in pain. His angry emotional outburst subsided slightly to be replaced with the less harmful sensation of worry. The entity, sensing this momentary lapse, took its opportunity and lashed out at the boy with a weak bolt of dark lightning. The spurt of energy passed through Tai's shoulder, sending a spray of crimson droplets onto the metal at his feet. These quickly trickled away through the beads of fallen rain there, but the expression of tormented anger on Tai's face remained. He surged forward again with another involuntary mental attack borne of his sorrow and rage, but this time the creature was ready.  
  
Using the same trick Tai did when exorcising it from his body, the entity threw up a barricade of psychic barriers nanoseconds before the assault hit. Tai's onslaught was stopped dead in its tracks, howling furiously against the shields barring its way. However, unlike Tai, the dark entity was experienced enough in the fields of both mental and physical combat to use both at once. As the hazel-eyed boy concentrated on breaching its intangible blockades, Sora's clone swung its unhurt foot around to kick his feet out from under him. He went down - hard - slipping on the wet surface of the metal bar and falling helplessly over the edge. Tai threw out his arms as he slid down, catching the edge of the precipice with his fingers and holding on with all his might. Every muscle strained as he fought to keep hold of the greasy purchase, but he could feel himself slipping.  
  
A head appeared above him, craning over to get a better look at the struggling boy. Needle-like raindrops rammed themselves into his eyes as he tilted his face upwards to see it, running through his brown hair like miniature fjords and waterfalls. Its mouth - Sora's mouth - twisted into a horrible grin. Tai felt something probe at his mind, testing for weaknesses. Desperately he tried to fend it off, but his untrained attacks had drained him mentally, and he just didn't have the strength to fight it any more. He barely had enough power left to cling to his purchase on the metal, let alone embark into more tussles with something that didn't even appear to have been fazed by their last encounter. In spite of everything, Tai felt his psyche slump and shatter, defeated. He couldn't fight any more. Sora was gone. It had won. What did the world have left for him? The entity sensed this minor weak spot, and sped hungrily towards it. Tai's broken mind let it come, too crushed to stop it any more.  
  
"Heaven's Charm!"  
  
Tai felt the shock of the entity as a new surge of physical energy struck it, then the pain as it was hurled against the side of the scaffold thirty feet away. He winced at the token agony he himself felt, but didn't make any attempt to return from his mental stupor as it faded. The psychic contact was momentarily broken as the entity contented itself with dealing with its corporeal throbbing, leaving Tai hanging impotently from the orange bar.  
  
"Tai!" A mature, womanly voice called. "Are you OK?" Tai didn't answer, didn't even bother to turn his head. Angewomon started towards him from where she floated behind his dangling form. The boy seemed....different somehow. Broken. As if he'd sustained some terrible wound - which he had, just not on his body. One of his hands suddenly came loose from its hold, leaving him clinging dangerously in mid-air. Angewomon sped through the rain as fast as she could, trying not to jolt the little bundle clasped in her arms.  
  
Through the self-pitying haze clouding his mind Tai abruptly felt a presence. Not the dark entity, but a warm existence touching his brain with tendrils of compassion and care. A voice filtered through his pain. A recognizable voice.  
  
Get up, Tai.  
  
Sora?  
  
Tai jerked his head up as Angewomon grabbed his wrist and hoisted him back onto the metal beam. She alighted next to him, delicate and graceful despite her big bulk. From her arms Tai sensed the presence, and - sure enough - slender fingers curled themselves around the Digimon's arm to pull the rest of their body into view. Tai gasped.  
  
"S.... Sora?"  
  
"Tai." She croaked weakly, trying to clamber out of the angel's tender embrace. Angewomon perceived her intentions, and gently set the teenage girl down on the steel surface. Sora stood for a moment; unsure as to whether she was going to fall if she attempted to move. Tai solved the problem for her, darting forward and enveloping her in a soothing clinch. She fell into his arms, wincing slightly but ignoring the pain as she buried her face into his sodden chest. Rain battered down on them relentlessly, but neither one acknowledged it as they drew solace from the other, whom they thought they'd never see again.  
  
Angewomon watched them, and smiled. From a rooftop far below Kari felt an inkling through her Digivice of the warm, glowy feeling her Digimon got looking at the two figures. Tai's sister grinned. It had been so long since Tai was happy, and even if it was short-lived, she knew that for a moment he'd found true joy.  
  
Tai clasped Sora's shaking form to him, unwilling to release her lest she disappear like some wonderful dream. He'd thought her dead, and the sight of her alive filled him with a new kind of gladness he'd never felt before. He was - as yet - not fully aware of the psychic connection between himself and her, but his relief and beatitude flowed inadvertently through their link into her mind.  
  
Sora breathed these thoughts in deeply. Their nature was soothing, acting as a balm against her stinging wounds. She returned these assuaging tendrils with thoughts of her own.  
  
Tai.  
  
He gasped as the silent voice echoed inside his head. Sora spoke again, softly and tenderly.  
  
Tai, we're linked.  
  
The hazel-eyed boy gulped slightly, his head still resting against her sodden shoulder. Linked? Tentatively, he attempted his own sentient thought-speech.  
  
How?  
  
When we defeated the entity before, you and I bonded mentally somehow. I can hear your thoughts, did you know that?  
  
Memories of speeding across the rooftops pervaded Tai's brain. Of feeling the entity's presence close by, but also that of another being, malleable and scared, yet determined beyond belief. Sora sensed these recollections, and her mental voice filled his head with gentle whispers like butterflies' wings in Spring.   
  
Yes, that was me. I'm here for you Tai. Together, we can beat that thing.  
  
Can we? Tai's psychic ability to speak was slightly weaker than hers, hesitant of this unspoken connection thrust upon him.   
  
Yes, we can, and we will.  
  
Her determination and faith rolled forth like an insurmountable wave, satiating him with fresh strength and resolve. Yes, they could. And they would. Together.  
  
A screech split the saturated air around them, and the entity - trailing its broken leg like it was simply an annoying inconvenience - sped towards them, leaping from beam to beam like a demonic monkey. The pain of its limb seemed not to bother it as it yowled at the pair, sensing their newfound strength through the shared mind-link. It had to stop them before it was too late, before the girl transmitted too much information to the escaped vessel. Whilst it had controlled the boy, the darkness had astutely set up unbreakable barriers within his mind, which disallowed him the ability to read through their mental connection how the entity could be destroyed. But that girl hadn't been part of the equation then. Hadn't been considered as a threat. Now, if she saw the secrets hidden in the recesses of its mind then it was finished. This thought drove all pain from the entity's borrowed form, lending wings to its feet as it surged madly forward.  
  
Angewomon leaped from her perch, mouth set in a grim line. Faster then the eye could see, she slammed into the snarling figure, brushing it aside with one gloved fist. The entity fell from where hung in the air, but twirled around to catch hold of another metal beam, swinging itself up and over to land on top of its flat surface. It hissed at the winged Digimon, calling upon its fading power to shoot a bolt of dark lightning at her. Angewomon dodged aside, but the attack grazed one of her wings, sending a flurry of snowy feathers into the atmosphere. The angel yelped in pain, then tumbled, spinning down out of sight, unable to right herself, avoiding numerous bars of steel as she plummeted to earth.  
  
Snarling, the clone of Sora rounded on the two teenagers several beams above. It unleashed another hacking cry and propelled itself up towards them, red eyes shining brightly through the sheets of rain. It could feel its energy draining with every passing second. It needed to get back inside its host before it was to weak to do so.   
  
Tai wordlessly scooped Sora up into his arms again, and sprang for the nearest steel bar with all the polish of a feline. Soundlessly he bounded from beam to beam, making his way up to the huge metal platform halfway up the tower. Below them the entity clamoured in pursuit, its claws scraped huge gouges from the painted steel as it followed.  
  
Within inhuman capability, Tai jumped straight up, soaring high into the night sky. As he began his descent, he tilted sideways, altering his direction so that he landed with a jolt on the gigantic dais' shell. The heavy impact jolted Sora in his arms, and she cried out in pain. Tai set her down, feeling something decidedly sticky running over his hands. Propping her up against his chest, he stared at his fingers, at the warm scarlet liquid smeared from the wound in her back, inflicted when the bolt of dark lightning had hit her. He stared at the shivering girl incredulously. How had she kept going with an injury like that? How had he not sensed the incredible agony she must be enduring? Sora gave a half grin, rainwater dripping off the end of her nose.  
  
I kept it hidden from you. I didn't want you to be hurt because of me.  
  
Tai gazed at her. At this slender, drenched girl, her seemingly fragile form concealing such potent hidden strength. A strange feeling manifested itself above his midriff, bathing his very soul in warmth and light. He'd felt this feeling before, but never more so then when she looked at him now, beads of liquid coursing down her trembling face.  
  
Sora's body mirrored this sensation of its own accord. The erstwhile-disused part of her heart flared into life, and sent tentacles of curious warmth singing through her veins. What was this feeling? Was it the relief of being rescued? Did it come from the soothing balm caressing her burning torn flesh? Or was it something else entirely? Something from this boy she had grown up with, now gazing at her with gentle hazel eyes? Something she felt she ought to recognise....  
  
A harsh shriek sounded out as the entity crawled, spider-like, over the rim of the platform. Tai spun round, shielding Sora with his tense body, settling instinctively into a fighting stance. Inadvertently, his mind to all intents and purposes closed off the link with Sora, concentrating instead on the hissing, spiting copy of her stretched before him, trying to decipher what its first move would be.  
  
The entity growled menacingly through feminine lips, adeptly hiding its thoughts from the boy's questing mind. It too fell into a fighting crouch, conscious of the superfluous leg trailing beneath it. That would be a problem in combat, unless....  
  
With a quick blast of dark energy, the clone severed its shattered limb, using the same black force to seal the gaping stump left in its wake. Hellish agony lanced through it, but it used this to its advantage, allowing the full potency of its pain to flow, along with its essence, through the mental connection, right into Tai's searching psyche.  
  
Sora dared forward as Tai suddenly screamed in mental anguish, doubling over and clutching at his head. She sensed partially what he was feeling, but knowing that she would do this, Tai placed his own mind in the path of the flood of agony, shielding her both physically and mentally, and taking the full force of this unexpected attack alone. Sora's mind was beaten back by the barriers he set up to protect her, reducing her to her physical body, unable to mentally sense either him or the entity.  
  
Sora watched helplessly as both Tai and her double were forced to their knees in twin suffering. She dashed to the brown haired boy's side, cupping his tanned face in her hands, feeling his soft skin pulsing beneath her fingertips and screaming his name.  
  
"Tai! Tai!" His hazel eyes were wide and unseeing, wracked with the suffering only pure, unadulterated hurt could cause. His mouth was unmoving, but those hazel orbs quiescently screamed as his cells were literally ripped apart from the inside out.  
  
Sora stared powerlessly into those agonized spheres, her own inability burning her up inside. He was hurting. He was hurting so badly, and she couldn't help him. Tears welled up in her eyes and slid down her face. This was her fault; he was trying to protect her. Guilt coursed through her body, flowing along her veins until coming to centre in a little hollow above her abdomen. There, these emotions mixed with the warmth that had fabricated itself inside her only seconds earlier, strands of pain snaking through its melting core, swirling together until she could barely distinguish one from the other.  
  
Pain.  
  
Warmth.  
  
Helplessness.  
  
Comfort.  
  
Darkness.  
  
Light.  
  
Protection.  
  
Sora gazed into his distant hazel orbs, fading away from her by the moment. With a jolt she realized that the intense injury was effectively killing him. Without the presence of the dark entity inside him, Tai was mortal - able to die. Nobody mortal could stand up to this kind of mental torture. The spark buried in his eyes fizzled, growing fainter, and Sora cried out in sorrow. She didn't even know if he could hear or see her anymore. As the fire in his eyes gradually became paler Sora felt an almost physical pain in her heart. Like a part of her was dying, shrivelling up as the thin boy knelt before her succumbed to the numbness of death. Rain pounded her skin and conflicting emotions pounded her soul.  
  
Tenderness.  
  
Hurt.  
  
Guilt.  
  
Affection.  
  
Agony.  
  
Fervency.  
  
Tai.  
  
Sora gasped as sudden, brutal realization dawned upon her. Like sunlight piercing through pitch storm clouds, a ray of understanding penetrated her brain, her heart, her very soul with its dazzling brightness. That feeling, it was....it was Tai. She loved Tai. With all her spirit and all her being she loved him. Loved him more than anything else in the entire world.  
  
Tai.   
  
The chestnut haired girl leaned forward and closed her eyes. Her lips touched his, and affection flowed through her body as they melded together in a warm kiss. She and Tai. Tai and her. Together. Mentally, Sora called out his name, willing him back to her by spirit alone.  
  
TAI!  
  
From the depths of his painful prison Tai heard her. Felt the vines of her warmth connect with his psyche, pulling him away from the void he was falling towards, rescuing him from the intense agony with their shining love. Swiftly, his soul swam in the direction of that enticing brightness he'd wished to see for so long, returning to himself, to the world of the living, to her. With a shudder, Tai's mind re-entered his thin body to be enveloped by her loving embrace. He returned her kiss, floating on the sea of emotion she'd created.  
  
SORA!  
  
The pair knelt in the rain, lost in each other. Finally united after all this time. Water pummelled their battered and bleeding bodies, but they didn't care. They had one-another, and that was all that mattered. Tai and Sora. Sora and Tai.  
  
Like a tangible wave, their love shattered the pain holding Tai captive. The dark entity felt it break; smashed by their feelings for each other, the most powerful force it had ever felt. Years of secret devotion, hours of crying for lost chances, thousands of cherished memories culminated in that one surging force which hurled itself down the mental link, filling the entity's mind and stunning it with the sheer intensity of their emotions.   
  
With incongruous tenderness, their mouths parted. Sora opened her eyes, and hazel met hazel, their gazes locking with shared devotion. Tai had been imprisoned, and now he was recovered. Sora had been lost, and now she was found. The air around them fairly crackled with emotion, as they stared intently into the soul of the other. Their second half. The one.  
  
I love you.  
  
It wasn't clear who said it. Maybe both of them did, but this silent declaration hung between them, like a silvery thread, binding them for all eternity. Their minds melded along this shining wire, merging and partaking in both sets of hopes, fears, dreams and memories, until it seemed they knew each other better than they knew themselves.   
  
Tai's mind suddenly felt something strange. Something buried deep in Sora's memory - a singular thought - gleaned from the entity's mind during their earlier conflict, which she didn't even realize she possessed. He probed at it, opening it up to his questing mental fingers. All at once the truth filled him. The truth that the entity had kept hidden from him since the beginning behind thick psychic walls, now breached by Sora's love. He grasped at it, seeking it out in all its glory. Now he knew what he had to do.  
  
Gently, Tai broke the contact with Sora. He sensed the entity's mind regrouping, summoning the last of its dark power for a final attempt to retake him. Silently the boy rose, turning away from the chestnut haired girl to face his ultimate enemy. He knew what he must do.  
  
Sora clutched desperately at his hand, pulling him back, willing him not to go. He couldn't leave her, not now, not when she'd only just truly found him. Both mentally and physically she whispered her frantic petition.  
  
"No, Tai... oh God, please....don't do this to me....don't go...."  
  
He stopped, and for one hopeful instant she thought that he had heeded her words. He glanced over his shoulder, and their eyes met once more. Sora expected to see fear in his gaze, or if not that then some indication of what he was planning. But all she saw was love. Love for her. And something else mixed with this love. He was asking her for something. Not strength, nor comfort, he had all those things already - although she would willingly have given more. Tai stared at her, pleading for insight, for understanding, for her to know what he knew, to understand what he now understood. Sora gazed back at him, comprehension slowly perforating her mind.  
  
She dropped his hand, and knelt there, watching him go as the rain fell heartlessly all around her. Tears mingled with heaven's sniffles, as the boy she loved walked slowly and purposefully away from her. She knew what he had to do....now.  
  
The entity skulked, sensing something was afoot, but not knowing what it was. It watched the approaching teenager through glowing red eyes, incredulous of his actions. Did he really think he could beat it alone? Foolish human. He would pay dearly for his arrogance.  
  
But Tai wasn't alone. Far from it.  
  
The hazel-eyed boy called with his mind. Called into the deepest recesses of his brain for aid. His psyche delved far beneath the surface of his mind with each determined step he took, summoning support from within. Faintly, but growing stronger, thin voices answered his beckons. Numerous voices, rising together in a cacophony of answering songs.   
  
Through the fabric covering Tai's chest, a small shape began to radiate. Golden light seeped from his skin, unlocking the power he called upon. It started as a simple circle, then grew, expanding and reforming into a collection of contours emulating the sun. His crest. The Crest of Courage.   
  
Tai felt presences begin to surround him, drawn from his heart. Their prison. They leached from his inner being, raising their voices as they were released from the living cell they'd been trapped in for so long. With every new presence the walls around these spirits' cage weakened, cracking and crumbling as Tai invoked the power to set them free. Spirits of those who had died along his journey filtered through the fissures the brown haired boy initiated, lending their strength to aid him in his fight against the thing that had stolen their lives away.  
  
Tai saw their gaol with his mind; saw the dark sphere encapsulating his heart and all those who lay within. Splits began to appear in the surface of this pitch globe, glimmers of light leaking through as more and more spirits were released. They danced away from that disintegrating confinement, that place they had been banished to when their souls had been cast out from their bodies when they perished. The dark entity had taken over all faculties when it controlled Tai, but there was one part of him that it couldn't rule. That inherent power which made him a Digidestined - the power of courage. Try as it might, this core of might stood strong against its attacks to destroy it. So it had changed tactics. Whenever it took a victim with his body the entity had grabbed at their souls, concealing them inside the dark core it created around Tai's heart, using their misery and torment to manipulate the power of his crest within his essence itself. The crest became warped and twisted, defecting unwillingly to the darkness, lending its energy to the entity that it may control this boy, this vessel. The entity became strong, living off the combined torture of the imprisoned spirits and Tai's own guilt and grief. But also, it drew power from the tainted crest, sapping the very shield it had created around the Digital World so many years ago, darkening its energy and those connected to it until the protective barriers around that land reverted to a solid mass of power which allowed neither entrance nor exit for anything not sprung from the place of its birth.  
  
It never thought Sora would learn of the lost souls.  
  
It never thought Tai could release them.  
  
The determined youth walked slowly, feeling the power of his crest return, sensing it revert to its true state, released from the evil warping it inside his chest. It shone brightly through his skin, burning with the inner fire of one who is showing infinitely more courage then any person should ever have to show. Shapes began to materialize around him, shining faces of those he'd known. They smiled at him, knowing that he hadn't been to blame for those horrendous times, lending their aid in his battle against the darkness. Tai saw them, felt them, sensed them. His body began to blaze with the energy they supplied him with, shimmering like a beacon for lost ships at sea.  
  
An ethereal hand lay on his shoulder, and Tai looked up to see the golden vision of his mother's spirit gazing at him, willing him silently on. His father walked beside her, Miko's form clasped in his arms, quiescently encouraging his son through golden eyes. Tai saw others next to them, each visage familiar, each forgiving him, each helping him the only way they could. His spirit burned with the aching amount of power they bestowed upon him, but he kept on advancing upon the entity crouched before him, fortitude placing one energy-saturated foot in front of the other.   
  
The entity hissed, sensing the turning tide. Desperately it shot a blast of dark lightning at the brown-haired boy in a last-ditch attempt to swing the fight in its favour, but a recovered soul darted before the black spear, shattering into a thousand glittering pierces upon contact, but content in the fact that it had aided the one who was going to avenge its life.   
  
Tai didn't even waver at this, surging forward like a personified wave of power. He halted, mere inches away from the entity's cowering form, the light of justice radiating clearly in his gold-flecked hazel eyes. Suddenly, small delicate fingers intertwined with his, a tiny hand taking his own. Tai glanced down at a little blonde girl, hair billowing in the breeze, gazing up at him lovingly, forgivingly....in a way that her twisted shade never could until reunited with her innocent soul.  
  
The entity lunged at him whilst his head was turned, intending to try and reclaim its host, but with unbelievable speed Tai whirled round and caught its wrists in mid-air. Red eyes locked with hazel, one set wide with fear, the other with power. It hung, suspended by the crackling energy searing the atmosphere, emanating from the seemingly slight teenager standing before it, rain thundering down on him. Tai leaned forward, pressing his tanned face into the entity's until their noses almost touched.  
  
"Game over."  
  
At once the surge of insurmountable power leapt forth, consuming them both in a pillar of brightness. It coursed through their bodies, their minds, their very essences with its vigour, enveloping them with energy as old as time itself, made tangible by will and wrapped in light. The entity screamed once as the all-consuming brilliance entered its stolen form, cutting it core to ribbons and banishing it to infinity.   
  
Clutching at incongruously slender hands, Tai let it flow through him, searing him to nothingness but letting it do so to rid the world of this unspeakable evil. Awe-inspiring powers gushed from him. The power of courage, the power of the spirits' souls, and finally.... the power of love. Love, courage, and soul mixed and mingled, melding together to form one huge blast of energy, which lit up the night sky with its vividness, slicing a hole through the black clouds above as it stretched into the sky. Heavens clashed; sound was rent asunder, as that last battle was fought in a blaze of blinding splendour.  
  
With a rush of magnificence, the unleashed power ended this conflict, erasing all sheathed in its intensity with a final burst of ineffable patina. Nothing screamed, nothing suffered, nothing died; for it's was not the control of life or death. This indefinable power simply ceased the existence of all within its touch, finishing the struggle that couldn't be settled by physical blows alone.   
  
The world fell silent as this ancient authority smashed through the barriers of space and epoch, returning to its rightful place among the stars. A hurling comet streaked like a burning diamond across the deep cavity of the night, as finally the battle was concluded in a heady concord of finality. As the many universes watched through rekindled porticos, a single fracas was concluded in the eternal fight, ended by the light of the ever-indifferent moon.  
___________________  
  
Tokyo Tower stood injured in the waning murk of the night, burned and gouged in several places, but still proud and tall. Its orange and white hide gleamed resiliently, as if to say to the world, 'look, great things took place among my rafters, and I'm still here to tell the tale to you.' A soft breeze lightly caressed its steel skeleton, whispering that *it* - if nobody else - had heard this valiant statement.  
  
On the great steel platform surrounding the spire's body a solitary figure stood. Tresses blowing gracefully in the wind, watching as the storm clouds that had filled the night slowly dispersed above its head. Around it were curious marks, like scorches tinted with glitter. The last testament to a great struggle.  
  
Sora pushed a lock of damp chestnut hair from her face, gazing intently into the irradiating firmament. She fancied she could still see a trail of gold, leading away into the waiting arms of all who had gone before it. The teenager turned her hazel eyes to look outward, upon the stirring city.   
  
They don't even realise what happened here tonight, she thought despondently. None of them know what went on among the metal beams so high above them, and even if they saw the light they'll forget about it soon. That's the way of the world. That's life. A single tear trickled down her cheek, and she sniffed sadly to herself, unaccompanied in her dejection.   
  
Suddenly, Sora had the distinct impression that she wasn't alone. Invisible fingers cupped her face, and she felt warm breath blow softly upon her skin. A wonderful sensation of warm lips against hers touched her mind for the last time, leaving an intimate part of itself embedded forever within the girl it loved, before billowing contentedly away on the cool air.  
  
Sora stood for a moment, savouring the lingering taste of ethereal affection. Then smiled. The tender, knowing smile of a soul truly at peace with itself.  
  
"I'll never forget, Tai." She whispered. "Never."  
  
The serene girl gazed out at the scene laid before her, looking at everything as if with new eyes. On a rooftop far below a brown haired adolescent stood, and feebly floating on the gentle breeze fluttered an angel wearing a steel mask and a shrewd smirk.  
  
Beyond the horizon the sun hung suspended in the sky. Golden and bulbous, it shone caring rays down upon the awakening metropolis, as it did everywhere. Beams of yellow light snaked their way through the receding clouds to impart their balmy compassion upon the world it so zealously guarded. Eyelids opened to greet these taken-for-granted miracles, and Sora watched blissfully from her vantage point over them all, happy in the knowledge that she had experienced love.  
  
A new day was beginning.  
___________________  
  
Owari.  
___________________ 


End file.
